The Sunday Sudoku

Sunday has aways been a day for church, 8 AM Mass - third pew on the right-hand side, scrambled eggs and bacon, maybe yardwork, maybe an afternoon movie or two, and dinner. A dinner that attempts to make up for the lack of weekday culinary planning. Lately after dinner there's sudoku.

It started innocently enough. After dinner, when I finally get a moment to look through the paper. Reading the comics, the front page, the Globe West section, the Parade and the Globe Magazine (GM). In the GM I would scan the articles, but only paying real attention to the food section. Looking for the next great Sunday meal.

Three weeks ago the sudoku puzzle caught my eye. Our family loves these little mind benders. Even the little ones enjoy looking for that one block that will unravel the rest of the numeral placements. We even own a magnetic set for laying out family puzzles. But the quiet that settles over the kitchen after dinner and sometimes late into the evening is new.

Dinner done, the dishes cleared, but not necessarily washed, I'd sit down to have the last of my tea and to read some of the paper. Until recently, when I spied the puzzle I'd give it a passing glance and that was it. Lately, after spying the puzzle, I have failed to move from the chair until it's either solved or I'm stymied.

From that chair I have brushed and braided hair, reviewed homework assignments, quizzed for exams, had quick conversations on the phone, and wondered if all this mental flexing will help push off dementia. All the while the sudoku is laid out in front of me. Last night it took hours. I actually started the puzzle before dinner. Clearing the magazine to the close proximity of the kitchen counter when the meal was ready. And then retrieving it after the table was cleared and dishwasher loaded.

Before dinner I had figured out 5 squares. "I'm going to be stymied," I reported over pot roast, mashed potatoes and carrots. While braiding the little one's hair I announced, "I found another six." And when doing the next set of braids, was relieved I had found yet another six. Still, I was missing that elusive key block that would lay out, like dominoes, the answer before me. My husband stopped by. "You have too much information there for me to see." I like to write all the possible numbers in the squares. It helps me see any emerging patterns.

We ran through the schedule for the next day. There were kisses good night, and reminders to pack up the backpacks for school, before I found it. A four, that led to a five that gave me a seven and then the other five. Ten minutes later, "I got it!" From before bed bookreading in the basement, the choir sang out, "Good for you!"

Afterwards, I stayed in the chair, reading until my own bedtime. My husband had gone to bed much earlier and I was surprised he was still up with a laptop resting upon his belly when got there.

"What are you doing?" I asked, as I peered on to the screen.

It was a sudoku.