To celebrate International Sudoku Day (9/9), enjoy this classic Sudoku in the style of the first “Number Place” puzzles by Howard Garns in 1979. The original Number Place puzzles always had 4 clues in each row, 4 clues in each column, and 4 clues in each region, leaving 45 cells to fill. While those grids were rarely symmetric, I made this puzzle with symmetry in mind. I also hid a special theme across the missing numbers. Can you catch onto the theme as you solve?

PDF

or solve online (using SudokuPad)

Theme: Where It Started and Where It Is Going?

Author/Opus: This is the 612th puzzle from Thomas Snyder, aka Dr. Sudoku.

Rules: Insert a number from 1 to 9 into each white cell so that no number repeats in any row, column, or bold region.

Difficulty (highlight to view): 1 star

Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 1:00, Master = 1:30, Expert = 3:00

Solution: PDF

Note: Follow this link for classic Sudoku. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Sudoku to get started on. More classic Sudoku puzzles can be found in The Art of Sudoku, The Art of Sudoku 2 and in our beginner-friendly collection Intro to GMPuzzles by Serkan Yürekli.

Note 2: Comments on the blog are great! For a more interactive discussion, please also consider using our Twelve Months of Sudoku? post on the GMPuzzles Discord. Not a member of the Discord? Click this link for basic access.