Dear Marilyn Sackheim,

Hi,

Thank you for your comments and ideas about the time. so I can do better for solving the sudoku puzzle.

We wish you good luck.

Best Regards,
Tawfiq Islami

Don't worry about the time. Do the puzzle as well as you can (and get it correct) and don't worry about the time. I won and I had NO idea that I was good enough to do so. I won in April once and it was only because I do the puzzle nearly every day (or when I am home from working out of the office)and I ignore the time clock. Just go steady and start out watching for the obvious. Then after you finish with the obvious, take the string of numbers that is the longest (like you have 6 of the 9 in that row or square) and try in your mind to see where every number can go. It takes time but you will persevere and even if you never win (and I never thought I could or would) you CAN and you don't have to go fast!!!