The game, which in Japanese means Number Place, requires a player putting the digits one to nine in a box made up of 81 squares, so that no number is repeated in any of the nine vertical or horizontal lines.

'Sudoku' is now the 10th most searched-for term within the UK's Entertainment–Games sector and makes up 0.18 per cent of all online searches, according to the latest figures.

Searches for 'sudoku' doubled between 7 and 14 May and also “increased significantly” in the week ending 21 May, reports web measurement firm Hitwise, while searches for the spelling variation 'su doku' also more than doubled from 30 April to 7 May.

The Times has been running a series of Sudoku puzzles since late last year and the top destination for 'su doku' searches is The Times website (www.timesonline.co.uk), followed closely by several other news sites, including BBC News and The Independent.

The puzzle has also recently become available to download to mobile phones, as well as appearing in almost all of the national newspapers, including The Sun, The Guardian, The Independent and The Daily Mail.

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