Focus on how you make progress, and how you think about what to look for next. At its core, Sudoku is a pattern recognition puzzle. As you solve more of them, you will slowly get better.

Sudoku is defined by Merriam-Webster as a 9-by-9 grid puzzle in which the grid is divided into 3-by-3 boxes. Every row, column and box must contain the numbers one through nine, no repeats.

Back in 2020, Reddit user /u/KrakenOfLakeZurich created a Sudoku solver in Microsoft Excel. It only uses formulae and conditional formatting, and it's available for both Excel and LibreOffice Calc.

Pens, pencils and a facility with numbers. Also helpful: earplugs, plushies, a water bottle, calming herbal oil and the occasional “wild bifurcation” (a.k.a. a wild guess).

The secret pattern hidden in your daily Sudoku - and it could help you solve puzzles more quickly READ MORE: Only people with high IQs can solve 'bridge brainteaser' By WILIAM HUNTER ...