FAIR GAME:Fun addiction without calories

Last year around this time I wrote about my addiction to ice cream. Häagen Dazs white chocolate raspberry truffle to be exact.

Thanks to the help of Ralphs supermarket and Promelis Market in the Westcliff area, I’ve managed to kick that habit. Simply put, they don’t carry it anymore.

But once an addict, always an addict. Check out an AA meeting, you’ll see a lot of cigarettes and Diet Coke.

So, those late-night hours at home, that used to be set aside for some good, old fashioned ice cream eating, are now filled with something else.

The good news is, it’s fat free. So even Jenny Craig would approve.

And secondly, Ralphs and Promelis can’t take this one away from me and drive me into those late-night withdrawal pangs and cold sweats.

What is it, you ask?

Sudoku!

No sugar. No hydrogenated oils. No high fructose corn syrup.

Nope, Sudoku is a game. Its appearance in The Times in London in fall 2004 launched its popularity in the West. Nearly a year later it made its way into U.S. newspapers.

I got hooked when I found it in the Los Angeles Times.

The people who play it, love it.Those who don’t, in many cases, don’t understand it.

Sudoku is a Japanese name, “Su” meaning number, and “Doku,” meaning the number can fit into a single place on the puzzle board.

The game is made up of a grid, divided into nine boxes each filled with nine smaller boxes.

The goal is to complete the grid so that each row, column and box contains every number from one to nine. No repeats.

The games are usually ranked by their degree of difficulty. Over time as you play you develop new skills and new strategies.

I can remember in the early days filling in each small box with every possible number that it could possibly be and then, by the process of elimination, figuring out the correct answers.

Today, I’ve upgraded my strategy to not put any numbers in any boxes until I know the right one.

It doesn’t always work, but that’s the goal.

So why is this so important to you, our reader?

This Monday, Sudoku will debut daily in the Daily Pilot. It’ll be different from the puzzle you’ll find in the Times.

You can Sudoku at home, in the office and even on vacation. I just wouldn’t recommend Sudoku and driving.

I’d hate to think about a local group forming, MASD, Mothers Against Sudoku Drivers.

So catch it every day, play it, try it and let us know what you think.

Then watch for the special Sudoku special puzzle on Sundays that will combine five Sudoku puzzles into one.

Hope you enjoy it.