The raging success of Sudoku has created demand for more abstract analytical puzzles, and KenKen seems to fit the bill nicely. Like Sudoku, completing the puzzle requires satisfying a number of overlapping constraints. For KenKen, the rows and columns must have each number only once, and the outlined areas (called cages) must total to the correct number using the specified operator. So a cage marked “10+” must sum to 10, while in one marked “2÷”, the numbers must be a pair that divides to 2.

I find KenKen more interesting than Sudoku, because of the variety of logic that has to be applied to solve one. As an example, here is today’s New York Times KenKen:

I’ll show here step-by-step how I solved it. First we fill in the forced numbers:

At cage C4:D4, we need a sum of 5, which is either 1,4 or 2,3. Column 4 already has a 3, so it must be 1,4, though we don’t know exactly where. Fill in the possibilities:

Looking at row E, the 5 can’t go in either of the 2÷ cages, so it has to go into the 6+, making it 1,5. Column 4 already has a 1, so we know exactly where they go:

G5:G6 is either 1,3 or 2,6, but G4 is already 3, so it must be 2,6:

Now, consider rows F and G together. The sum of all the cells in both rows must be 56 (2×(1+2+3+4+5+6+7)). Other than F4:F5 and G2:G3, we have a sum of 10+7+10+3+8, or 38. So F4:F5 + G2:G3 is 18. If one of them is 1,4, then the other must sum to 18-5 or 13, making it 5,8, which is impossible, so neither is 1,4. If one of them is 3,6, then the other is also 3,6 but G2:G3 can’t be 3,6 since G4 is already 3. The last remaining possibility is that one of them is 2,5 and the other is 4,7. F4:F5 can’t be 4,7 (since F3 is 7), so it is 2,5, and G2:G3 is 7,4. E4 determines where the 5 will go, and F3 determines where the 7 will go:

In row A, we have a similar arrangement with two 3− cages. Because the entire row sums to 28, and the third cage is a 10+, the two 3− cages together sum to 18, just like we saw in rows F and G. Again 1,4 and 5,8 isn’t a possibility, and because they’re on the same row, we can’t use 3,6 and 3,6. So these cages will also be filled with 2,5 and 4,7, though we don’t know which is which.

That leaves 1,3,6 to fill the 10+ on row A. The 1 has to go in column 5 since columns 3 and 4 already have 1’s. Column 4 has a 3, so A4 gets the 6, and A3 gets the 3:

The last number in column 4 is the 7 for B4. The 56× cage needs a 7, which can’t go in row B or column 5, so it goes in C6:

Now comes some complicated logic. Look at rows B, C, and D. All together, their cells have to sum to 84. We know the 56× cage has to be 7,2,4, so the only cages we don’t know the sums of are 36×, 3−, and 2−. The others sum to 54.

There are three possibilities for the 36× cage: 3,4,3 or 6,2,3 or 6,1,6. Let’s consider them in turn:

• If 36× is 3,4,3, then the 3− and 2− cages have to sum to 20, which isn’t possible since the sum of a 3− must be odd and the sum of a 2− must be even, which sum to odd.
• If 36× is 6,2,3, then the 3− and 2− cages sum to 19. There are three ways to do that, none of which are allowed:
  • 7,4 and 5,3: won’t work, because columns 2 and 3 already have 7’s.
  • 6,3 and 6,4: that would put two 6’s in row D.
  • 5,2 and 7,5: two 5’s in row D.
• So 36× must be 6,1,6. Let’s look at the possibilities for the 3− and 2−:
  • 7,4 and 4,2: nope, two 4’s in row D.
  • 6,3 and 5,3: nope, two 3’s in row D.
  • 5,2 and 6,4: that’s valid!
  • 4,1 and 7,5: nope, columns 5 and 6 both have 7’s already.

So there’s only one way to complete the 3− and 2− in row D, and we know the solution to the 36×. Also, the possibilities for the 2− cage force the positions of the 1 and 4 in column 4:

Column 3 is almost completed. D3 is either 2 or 5, so B3 is either 5 or 2. If it’s 2, then B5 must be 6, but column 5 will get a 6 from either D5 or G5, so B3 must be 5, and D2 and D3 are determined also:

The 56× cage has to be 7,2,4 and we now have enough squares filled in to see where they go. These then fix the positions of two cages on rows D and G:

Returning to the two 3− cages in row A: they are 2,5 and 4,7. With column 6 more filled in, we can see that A6:A7 has to be 5,2, and A1:A2 is 7,4:

The two 2÷ cages in row E will be 2,4 and 3,6. Neither 2 or 4 can go in column 6, so those cages can be filled in, along with the last remaining numbers in columns 2 and 6:

Now our rows have only two numbers each remaining. In each row we can consider the two missing numbers, and place them in the column that doesn’t already have it:

And the rest is easy: