I used to do Sudoku all the time, but I lost interest around the time Lauren came into our lives. Coincidentally (?), I'm back into it again.

(Oh, what's Sudoku? It looks something like a crossword puzzle, but it's all numbers. 9x9 grid, divided into nine 3x3 sections. To finish the game, every row, column, and 3x3 section must have all of the digits 1-9. There's no math involved, other than being able to count to 9. There is some real logic involved, though.)

When at my computer I use Verek's Sudoku Companion. It's freeware, though it didn't used to be: I had to pay for my copy. (Verek is no longer in business, though, so I'm glad they're giving the app away.)

Sudoku Companion gives you all the options I think you might need in a computer-based version of the game, other than an "I give up just solve it for me" button. It offers six levels of difficulty: Easy, Medium, Hard, Fiendish, Insane and Sudoku of the Day. I'm not sure where the Sudoku of the Day comes from, but everybody running the app gets the same one on the same day, so it's a nifty way to have a little friendly competition. A timer at the bottom of the window tells you how long it's been since the game started, and the timer pauses if the game isn't frontmost (so if you take a break, the timer stops). You can also create your own sudokus, and save/share them. (It's very difficult to create a good one, though.)

I can usually complete an 'insane' sudoku in about thirty minutes. The dailies are usually forty minutes to an hour.

If you like sudoku and you're on a mac, go get a copy of Sudoku Companion (that's the direct download link). Do a couple warmup games, and then try Sudoko Companion Daily.png. It's the most difficult sudoku I've ever played, and took almost two hours to complete!