In classic Sudoku the object is to fill a 9 × 9 grid with digits so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3 × 3 subgrids that compose the grid (also called “boxes”, “blocks”, or “regions”) contains all of the digits from 1 to 9. For our purposes we will consider the classic Sudoku to have a grid dimension of 9 and a box dimension of 3 for the 3×3 subgrid (box).
This is our sample puzzle archive. Feel free to download and time your algorithm on a Sudoku puzzle. What the #%$!? These are the largest Sudokus ever (up to a 90000 by 90000 grid). Not the hardest by any metric. Not even close. However, they are the largest created and available publicly to date. Whatever you will find on the INTERNET isn’t even close to what you can find here (at least in size). The only reason the puzzle is limited to 90000×90000 is due to reasonable file size limitations (~11 GB compressed).
This area is for nerds who want to test their code and see how fast they can solve a sudoku. If I get enough feedback I’ll start a dashboard for the fastest routines.
If you’re curious, the puzzles are text files where only numbers are used. Zeros are place holders for blank spaces or cells to be determined. Since some are interested in seeing what the puzzles look like or want to play some of them manually (seriously?!), try the Excel template to read the files.
Indicate the folder where you placed the puzzle files in cell A8. The Excel file will allow you to view the smaller puzzles (3600×3600 grid size or smaller) although you may want to avoid long read times by examining the smallest of puzzles. For puzzles 81×81 or smaller the Excel template will flag when you have duplicate numbers in a row, column, or block. Just select the grid dimension of interest and hit the “READ PUZZLE” button.
As the puzzles are solved the fastest times will be posted on the leaderboard. Join the fun!