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HomeKakuroMastering Kakuro |
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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 3 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Kakuro by TE Parker Feb 17, 2008
By Maynard B. Wheeler
"Pilcopata Man"
Excellent spread of puzzles from easy to hard although, even in the bonus section at the end, none are at the really hard level. Very good complete sum charts at the end.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 My favorite Kakuro book ever. May 24, 2007
By Carter's Mom
This little book has it all. Easy to follow instructions. Several levels of difficulty and, most importantly, a COMPLETE SUM CHART. I love it.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 An error in the sum chart and less strategy help than I'd have liked Jan 02, 2010
By J. Lee
"imajeel"
This was my first attempt at Kakuro. I figured I'd move on from my Sudoku addiction. So, I purchased this one because the cover promised rules, strategies, complete sum charts and puzzles at all levels. I figured I could work my way up.
On the first page, it also told me that Parker, who put the book together, is a master puzzler and editor of USA Today's crossword puzzles. So, I felt pretty good about the purchase. Here's the ups and downs I found with it:
On the upside, I have passed quite a few enjoyable hours working my way up through to the "hard" ones. Unlike, a previous reviewer, with my limited experience, I do find the hard ones pretty challenging.
Still, I was dissappointed in a couple of things:
- The rules and strategy section is very basic, and won't really help you get through the harder ones.
It consists of a few pages. One page explains the game. Another gives a simple sample puzzle. Another provides four bullet points suggesting a basic approach (fill in the easiest first and use the sum charts - was pretty much the gist of it). Then, there's a list of the 33 numbers that only have one possible solution.
As I worked my way through it, I ended up going on-line to find more advanced solving strategies.
- The complete sum charts at the back, which you can't really do the more complicated puzzles without, has a huge error in it.
The possible sums for 3-cells equaling 15, lists the possible sums for 3-cells equaling 14 instead! At first, I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong in puzzles that had 15/3-cell items in it. Once I did, I corrected the chart - but started skipping over those puzzles that had that combo in it. But, it made me start doubting whether there were other errors in the puzzles.
A side note on price: The actual suggested price of the book is on the cover (you can see it, if you click to "see a larger view". You might want to check it before buying to make sure the cost is in line.
Bottom Line: Don't know if I've "mastered Kakuro", but I did learn how to do them. Still, I wish it'd provided more strategy info and been better proof-read to ensure the sum chart was accurate. And, I don't think it's cured me of my Sudoku addiction.
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