Sudoku puzzles are so involved and meditative that many have described them as therapeutic. AFP
Sudoku puzzles are so involved and meditative that many have described them as therapeutic. AFP
Sudoku puzzles are so involved and meditative that many have described them as therapeutic. AFP
Sudoku puzzles are so involved and meditative that many have described them as therapeutic. AFP

Cracking the Cryptic: How the healing art of sudoku became a YouTube sensation


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It's become a cliche to say that we live in unsettling times. The Covid-19 pandemic continues to radically alter our world, threatening lives and disrupting things we once took for granted. Across the globe, and across the internet, reason and truth are being undermined by falsehood and conspiracy theories. The psychological effect of this has become apparent in recent months, as mental health services across the world report an increased volume of calls, and meditation and mindfulness apps grow in popularity.

But my own attempts to stay on an even keel have been helped by the unlikeliest of things: sudoku. Daily immersion in logic puzzles has provided me with a source of certainty in a chaotic world.

A YouTube channel, Cracking the Cryptic, gets credit for providing me with this daily salve, but I'm not the only one who eagerly awaits its twice-­daily videos of puzzle-solving and other digital goodies. In the past year, its viewership has ballooned; hundreds of thousands of people have become devoted to the seemingly mundane daily spectacle of two British men sitting at home and working their way through puzzles. Simon Anthony and Mark Goodliffe, both seasoned puzzlers, originally set up the channel as a repository of hints and tips, but became aware last year that their efforts had taken a therapeutic turn.

“We’ve received some harrowing emails from people who have said that they’ve been on the verge of suicide, but seem to get a good night’s sleep after watching our videos,” says Anthony. “I have a friend who’s a mental health campaigner, and he has no interest in sudoku, but he watched a video and said he had his best night’s sleep for years. I don’t know why it happens. It seems to be performing some sort of role that it wasn’t designed for, but does seem to be valuable.”

As Anthony and Goodliffe methodically work their way through puzzles, they take you on little journeys of discovery where obstacles are overcome and truth is unveiled. Most of us are familiar with the standard sudoku rules, where each row, column and square of a 9x9 grid need to be filled with the numbers 1 to 9 without repeating numbers in the row, column or square. But new rules add intrigue into the mix. Take Anthony's solve of the "Miracle Sudoku" by Mitchell Lee (2.2 million views since being uploaded last May), where a grid with digits and a couple of extra rules leads to a unique and hard-won solution. Word of mouth caused this video to go viral, as politicians and celebrities alike expressed their admiration – and deep satisfaction – on social media.

‘The Miracle Sudoku’, which Simon Anthony cracks in a gripping puzzle-solving video. YouTube / Cracking The Cryptic
‘The Miracle Sudoku’, which Simon Anthony cracks in a gripping puzzle-solving video. YouTube / Cracking The Cryptic

“I have wondered [about the appeal],” says Anthony. “Whether it’s because these puzzles have a solution, and that’s not like the real world where we worry about money, health and problems for which are there are no answers. It feels as if the world works when you do a good sudoku and it finishes correctly.”

It can also lead to moments of strange profundity. "The universe is singing to us," Anthony has said on more than one occasion, as a particularly beautiful twist of logical reasoning makes a solution unfold. For people like myself who consider puzzles as merely a way of passing time, this was a revelation: that a grid of 81 digits could contain beauty, almost art, and was so involving that all troubles seem to melt away. As a consequence, the setters of these puzzles have been afforded a kind of celebrity status; names such as Bastien Vial-Jaime, the aforementioned Lee and Phistomefel are finally being recognised for what Anthony believes to be genius.

"It used to be very niche," he says. "The people competing at the World Sudoku Championship would be an incredibly introverted group. They all knew, respected and venerated each other, but then they would go back into the world and nobody would know that was their hobby. Now we're able to put their names in lights, and they really deserve it."

The two men who began the channel with no confidence about their on-screen personalities have unwittingly found themselves to be solvers first, entertainers second, and perhaps therapists third. “People email us to say how they rely on this, and we do feel a great responsibility to keep it going,” says Anthony. “But we’re so lucky. I spent most of my youth doing a job that I detested, and now I’m able to do something I really enjoy.”

Lucky also are viewers such as myself, who have found this unusual but delightful way of taking the sharp edges off today’s world.

2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups

Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.

Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.

Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.

Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.

Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.

Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.

Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.

Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.

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The Matrix Resurrections

Director: Lana Wachowski

Stars:  Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick 

Rating:****

Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule

Thursday December 27

Men's quarter-finals

Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm

Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm

Women's exhibition

Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm

Friday December 28

5th place play-off 3pm

Men's semi-finals

Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm

Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm

Saturday December 29

3rd place play-off 5pm

Men's final 7pm

Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

Asia Cup Qualifier

Venue: Kuala Lumpur

Result: Winners play at Asia Cup in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in September

Fixtures:

Wed Aug 29: Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore

Thu Aug 30: UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman

Sat Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal

Sun Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore

Tue Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore, UAE v Oman, Nepal v Hong Kong

Thu Sep 6: Final

 

Asia Cup

Venue: Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Schedule: Sep 15-28

Teams: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, plus the winner of the Qualifier

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