Will the next puzzle craze after Sudoku be Kenken? The New York Times seems to think so as it starts publishing daily Kenken puzzles.
Kenken is a numerical logical puzzle like Sudoku, but with the new twist that solving it requires arithmetic as well. Kenken was invented by Miyamoto Tetsuya, a teacher who operates the Miyamoto Math Classroom to teach mathematics to Japanese children in a very un-Japanese way. No rote learning here, no memorization, no rules. The students are given Kenken puzzles without instructions and must solve them alone. That means trial-and-error, something generally avoided in risk-averse Japan where every situation has been caught in templates and manuals. Not here, Mr Miyamoto teaches his students to walk on their own feet. And in the process, he has created a very engaging puzzle! Try here, on his website, or here.
Times Online article on Miyamoto Tetsuya; NYTimes article (you can also play kenken on the NYTimes website).
