At First Glance

They say appearances are deceptive and there are countless examples that prove this to be the case. The aggressive young man who knocked you over wasn't trying to mug you, he did it just for fun. The woman who pushed in front of you in the queue wasn't being inconsiderate – she thought about it first and decided she could get away with it. My friend may not be fat, he may just be big-boned (whatever that means). And just because I appear to have a politician's inability to keep a promise doesn't mean I won't stick to that rigorous exercise regime that I've announced as my New Year resolution. I mean, does it?

Puzzles can be deceptive too, on a number of levels. Kakuro looks difficult at first glance, but when you get into it, you find it's not so very hard. All the same, it can lead you in the wrong direction from time to time. If you're careful, you'll stay on the right path.

For example, a 10 sum across two cells can have as many as eight possible combinations: 1 9, 9 1, 2 8, 8 2, 3 7, 7 3, 4 6 and 6 4. Ugh! But if the crossing two down sums total 34 and 35, with five cells in each, you're not as far off from the solution as you might think. The Unique Digit Answers table in the magazine, and the Inspect tool when playing online, will tell you the only numbers that can fill the 34 (4 6 7 8 9) and 35 (5 6 7 8 9) sums. Possible combinations for the 10 sum all include the number 4 or below. But only one of the 34 and 35 Unique Digit Answers has any of these numbers in it. There is only one possible solution: 4 6, with the 4 in the cell of the crossing 34 sum.

It's not as difficult as it first seems… unlike my New Year resolution…