In May, I discovered (along with the rest of the internet) a video on YouTube of a guy in his loft in Surrey, England... solving a Sudoku puzzle. It was intense, a rollercoaster ride, and, ultimately, sublime.

Those are not words you might expect someone to use to describe watching a stranger solve a little number puzzle, but here we are.

Since I found that video, I've watched that YouTube channel, Cracking the Cryptic, practically every day. Sometimes the videos are riveting. The rest of the time, they're soothing.

The channel's 250,000 subscribers and 40 million cumulative views would seem to indicate that I'm not alone in using it as a way to both exercise and relax my mind during this pandemic period.

This hour, a look at Sudoku, specifically, and logic puzzles more generally.

GUESTS:

Simon Anthony - A former U.K. team member in the World Sudoku and World Puzzle Championships and a host of Cracking the Cryptic
Jason Rosenhouse - Professor of mathematics at James Madison University and the author of a number of books about math and related topics, including the forthcoming Games for Your Mind: The History and Future of Logic Puzzles

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.

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S03 EP7: "Sometimes you've got to engage the stiffy..."