Will Shortz Presents The Ultimate KenKen Omnibus: 500 Easy to Hard Logic Puzzles That Make You Smarter

This book begins with 3x3 puzzles, trivial to solve, for 9 pages of warm-up. Pages 10-72 are 4x4, followed by 5x5 on 73-130. The 6x6 on 131-237 start off easy and progress, but still remain easy. 7x7 begin on 238, taking about 10 minutes each to solve. Progress to about 30 minutes at 284 (with lots of variation - some still 10 minutes and some 60 minutes). Last 7x7 is #325, taking about 60 minutes to solve. 8x8 begin with #326 with lots of variation in solution time - some 15 minutes, others in the 30ish range and a few of 60 minutes. Then a streak of easy ones with 15 minutes for solution. Back to reasonable, then one at 377 that took 132 minutes. Ugh! Then 5 more at 60 minutes, then just gave up at that point. Last 8x8 is #401. Rest are 9x9, uncharted territory for me! Enjoyable book, but humbling. BTW, did you realize KenKen can go beyond 9x9? The digits are just symbols for numbers, so no obstacle to having 10x10, 11x11, etc. There are already "symbols" for the numbers 10-15, with A=10, B=11, ..., F=15, as in hexadecimal numbers. But no need to stop with 15, except they would be beyond usefulness to most humans!

I started this book with almost no KenKen experience. After working on it about an hour a day for four months, I've now finished all the puzzles. The puzzles start out easy; the 3x3s and 4x4s take less than a minute. But the hardest puzzles can take hours. For the most part, the difficulty gradually increases, with each size of puzzles offering a greater challenge than the last and with the later puzzles of a given size being harder than the earlier ones. As I progressed through the book, my skill level increased and I discovered techniques to help me solve the puzzles.Strangely, once you get to the 9x9s, the difficulty takes a nosedive and never recovers. I'd say the ten hardest puzzles in the book are all 8x8s. I don't think it's just a matter of me getting better, since the drop in difficulty was very sudden when I finished the 8x8s and started the 9x9s. There are some good 9x9s, but many of them are too quick and easy.While the lack of difficult 9x9s is disappointing, the book as a whole is still an excellent collection of puzzles.

I first got into KenKen back with the iPod Touch 2 in 2009. I HATE Sudoku. Can't stand it. But I'm addicted to KenKen. I'd call myself advanced and try to do as many as I can without writing down hints (I'm doing this book in order so I know I can do 6X6 like that, maybe even bigger, and I've solved 9X9's quite a bit). I'm on day 6 of having this book and I'm at puzzle 170, having only had to skip one (#68, a 4X4, is kicking my behind). I'm right around a third of the way in but as the book goes on it'll take longer to solve each puzzle (specially the way I do it trying to avoid writing down hints).On the bigger puzzles the hint space gets considerable smaller but still doable. This is my first print KenKen experience and I love it. For 10 bucks? A no-brainer. This is going to give you weeks of pleasure (well, depending on how many hours a day you spend on this). This is a great way to start the KenKen experience. I also got a Ferocious KenKen book but that's proving quite a bit more challenging. This is just the right mix.

I'm slowly working my way through the book--the ones up to 6x6 were so easy I was patting myself on the back! But that was before I found some of the tricky 6x6s and the much harder 7x7s. (This book goes up to 9x9, I think.) I bought this was a used book and had to go through and erase the previous owner's markings. Luckily she (or he) did not get much past 6s and a few 7s and was a whole lot neater than I am. Even if I only go through 7--I'm going to try by best to go further because they're fun and challenging--no one will want to purchase the book after I am finished with it! Great book with lots of puzzles for each type. Highly recommended, unless you want to only stay with up to 6s.

I am new-ish to ken ken and bought this book due to its large variety of puzzles. I thought this would allow me to try different sizes and levels of challenge. What I have found is that I prefer ones in the middle. I like 5x5 - 7x7s the best. The most challenging ones are a bit out of my ability, though in time I can often crack them, while the easier ones are too easy. This means that the majority of this book I will likely never get to, not any time soon anyways. I have since book a smaller book that just contains 5x5s and 7x7s, because they are the ones I like best. This book may helped me figure out where my comfort level is and one day I may make it on to a new, harder, section, but I will likely have lost the book by then.

I’m obsessed…after doing all of these I purchased more books of Ken-Ken. None were as great as this one - not just the puzzles, but the SIZE of the book allows room to “calculate” on the page.

Got this as a gift for an in-law who was not familiar with KenKen puzzles. I figured this was an introduction to KenKen. I glanced through the book and the puzzles started with 'easy' and ended with more difficult. Seems to me to be a good way to start doing these puzzles.

This is my favorite kenken book there. In fact I've bought it twice. Plus good price for the number of the puzzles

This whopper of a book has enough puzzles to keep anyone occupied for a long time. A great first Kenken book, because it has lots of easy ones, or good for showing friends how it is done and letting them get their feet wet on the 3x3 ones. Then there are plenty of challenging ones in every size.I deducted one star, because it could have been made less thick by putting two 3x3 and 4x4 puzzles on a page instead of enlarging them to a ridiculous size.

These are fun and increase in difficulty at a gradual pace so that you can actually complete the hard ones. I am almost done the book now, I plan to buy another one.

Ce livre est un vrai must. Des heures de pur bonheur pour les amateurs de casse-tête. Difficile de décrocher, on devient vite accro. On commence sans enthousiasme avec des grilles 3x3, 4x4, 5x5. Et l'extase vient progressivement, jusqu'aux grilles 9x9. Chaque format de grille comporte des niveaux plus ou moins difficiles, de quoi plaire à tout le monde.

Too easy