The Puzzle I Thought Was “Too Hard” (But Wasn’t)

By Vicky Handa

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Language: English Not Rated (NR)

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I opened a Sudoku puzzle the other day, didn’t even check the difficulty, just started playing like usual. First few minutes were normal, nothing special. I filled in a couple of obvious numbers, got into the flow a bit… and then suddenly, nothing. Completely stuck.

The Story Behind This Book

Like, not “I need to think a bit more” stuck. I mean full-on staring at the grid and seeing absolutely zero moves. I checked rows, columns, those little 3x3 boxes—everything looked blocked. My brain just went blank.

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Sudoku

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It Felt Like I Was Regressing

This was a weird phase I went through recently. I had been playing Sudoku pretty regularly, nothing crazy, just a few puzzles here and there. At some point I actually felt like I was improving — spotting patterns faster, making fewer mistakes, that kind of thing.

Then suddenly… I started playing badly.

Like, really badly.

Simple puzzles felt harder than usual, I kept second-guessing myself, and I was making those dumb mistakes I thought I had already moved past. You know the kind — placing a number too fast, not checking properly, then everything breaks later and you have to fix it.

At first I thought, “Okay maybe I’m just tired today.”

But then it kept happening.

The Annoying Part

It Didn’t Make Sense

That’s what frustrated me the most. It didn’t feel like I was learning something new or facing harder puzzles. It just felt like I was worse at something I already knew how to do.

I’d open a grid, stare at it longer than usual, and think, “Why is this taking me so much time?” Even when I did see the right move, I wasn’t as confident as before. I kept checking and rechecking like I didn’t trust myself anymore.

I Started Overthinking Everything

At some point I realized I wasn’t just solving anymore — I was overthinking every single step. Instead of naturally scanning the grid, I was forcing it. Trying too hard to be correct.

And ironically, that made me slower… and more likely to mess up.

The Moment It Clicked

It Was Just a Bad Day (Or a Few)

One day I opened a puzzle, expecting the usual struggle, but this time everything felt normal again. Not super easy, not hard — just… smooth.

I wasn’t rushing, but I also wasn’t overthinking. I just played.

And that’s when I realized nothing had actually changed about my “skill”. I wasn’t getting worse. I was just having off days, the same way you do with anything else.

I Was Paying Too Much Attention to It

The more I focused on “am I getting better or worse?”, the worse I played. The moment I stopped caring and just treated it like a casual game again, everything went back to normal.

Why This Felt Familiar

Thinking about it now, this isn’t just a Sudoku thing. It happens with a lot of stuff. You improve, then suddenly you feel like you’re going backwards, and it messes with your head a bit.

But most of the time, you’re not actually getting worse. You’re just noticing your mistakes more, or you’re tired, or you’re trying too hard.

Why I Still Keep Playing Sudoku

I think that’s part of why I like it. It’s simple, but it reflects your state of mind more than you expect. Some days you’re sharp, some days you’re not, and that’s fine.

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