Sudoku, puzzles and other wastes of my time đ§©
Entry #67 on plumbing new depths of impatience and irritation
Entry #67
Look at the picture below and tell me, what is your first reaction?
Itâs a puzzle, asking you to solve how all nine dots can be joined together with four straight lines - without lifting the pen.
My own initial reaction was falsified because I saw this puzzle drawn, explained and solved in a video. I love this puzzle now, because I can solve it.
Alt text: a pale yellow post-it note with a 3x3 grid of dots and a sentence written below. Michelle has made a spelling mistake, about which she gave too little of a fuck to correct it.
I drew this puzzle out for Shawn and the kids. They tried and tried to solve it. They could not. I smiled smugly, like someone you would really like to punch in the throat.
I thought, maybe I will try more puzzles and I dusted off the Sudoku book I bought for Beren when he showed a hint of interest in mathematics.
Sudoku, I quickly realised, is not for me. I got very frustrated, very rapidly and checked the back of the book to see the correct solution. I scribbled over the grids I had fouled and snapped at Beren who said it was cheating to use the solutions before the grid was finished.
Shawn said, you just have to slow down. Youâre rushing.
He showed me another puzzle on a piece of paper. Something to do with five paddocks, 16 gates and needing to map how youâd move through them all only once.
Shawn was first shown this puzzle by his workshop teacher in high school. He has tried to solve it for over 20 years now. He is happy to keep working on it.
20 years. I cannot imagine that.
I drew out the paddocks myself and had a hard think about it, I tried a theory and it was close but not right. Shawn came home and saw my attempt. He said, âfuck me youâve done itâ and showed me how my lines actually did meet up. Then we realised Iâd drawn the gates and paddocks wrong, two were missing. I hadnât solved it after all. Now Shawn looked smug. The puzzle remains unsolved in house, but you can bet your last dollar that I will be googling the answer before the end of October.
I have come to realise that I am not likely to solve any of the worldâs biggest issues in my lifetime. I just donât have the patience. This is a shame.
I like knowing the answers, I like learning how the puzzle is solved - not solving it myself. Shawn is so very different to me. I guess it makes us a good team.
And that is all for today. As always, I look forward to hearing what you heard, saw and felt when reading this.
With love,
Michelle xx
Hi Michelle
Awesome piece! Are you going to share the solution with us or do I need to Google it? I don't have the patience to try too many times :(
Thanks!
-Riikka