sudoku

 
Pronunciation: /suːˈdəʊkuː, -ˈdɒ-/

noun

  • a puzzle in which players insert the numbers one to nine into a grid consisting of nine squares subdivided into a further nine smaller squares in such a way that every number appears once in each horizontal line, vertical line, and square.

Origin:

early 21st century: from Japanese sūdoku, from sū(ji) 'number' + doku(shin) 'single status' after sūji wa dokushin ni kagiru, literally 'the numbers are restricted to single status', former name of the puzzle