Sudoku

Three of these things belong together / three of these things are kind of the same // Can you guess which one of these doesn’t belong here? / Now it’s time to play our game // It’s time to play our game

If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied / Illuminate the NOs on their Vacancy signs // If there’s no one beside you when your soul embarks / Then I’ll follow you into the dark // - with much gratitude to Ben Gibbard

It’s less common in the world of Sudoku, but many pencil puzzles have a “2x2” rule, although most of those involve “shaded” and “unshaded” cells. We don’t do shading in Sudoku-land, so it’s Odds and Evens instead. You can shade or color it if you like, so long as you break up every 2x2 set of cells.

Ain’t that a renban line / for you and me // Ain’t that a renban line / something to see // Ain’t that a renban line / the puzzle is free // Little pink houses for you and me (with apologies to Mr. Mellencamp)

Crystalline shards and sharp angles, it’s like a Fortress of Solitude in this puzzle.

N is for Number, like the numbers 1, 5, and 9. N is for Nine, which along with 1 and 5, are indexed columns. N is for Not planning to continue with this “N is for” routine.

Just put one foot behind the other; 6, 7, spin, 8, 9, cross, wait, look out! They aren’t supposed to be difficult dance steps, but everybody has different strengths and weaknesses.

It's a Sudoku-X! It's a spiral of givens! It's oh-so-many easy-to-find "naked" singles!

A heart beat is one of the most recognizable electrical signal displays, which is how I know this isn’t a healthy one. There should be two spikes, close together, but I do what I can with a 9x9 grid.

It’s t-t-t-two puzzles in one! For the low, low price of nothing, you get not one, not two, but 1.55 puzzles! It would be two puzzles, but four of the nine boxes are shared, so they probably shouldn’t count twice. One of the two grids is outlined in a shade lighter than the other.