Pop quiz: The proper response to the query Sudoku? is:

a. Gesundheit.

b. Thank you sir, may I have another?

c. I do! I do!

While dubious arguments could be made for the first two answers, the proper response — and one given at a wondrously increasing rate around the world — is a resounding "c."

"I do! I do!"

And now you too can Sudoku.

Starting today, the Coffee Break page in this section will be home to "Sudoku," the simple-looking but deceptively addictive little logic puzzle that has become an international sensation.

The game, which is based on a game called Latin Squares by 18th-century mathematician Leonhard Euler, has been around in its present form since the late 1970s, when it was introduced in the magazine "Math Puzzles and Logic Problems." Marketed in Japan as Su Doku (a derivative of the Japanese words for "single number") by publisher Nikoli, the game has been a mainstay of Japanese newspapers and other periodicals since the mid-1980s.

But it wasn't until late last year that Sudoku fever hit the mainstream in Europe and the United States. That's when New Zealander Wayne Gould began giving the puzzles away for free to select newspapers as a way of marketing his newly developed Sudoku software.

Gould discovered the puzzle while browsing through a Japanese bookstore in 1997, shortly after he had retired as a chief district judge in Hong Kong. He spent the next six years developing a software program that could create a near-infinite number of unique Sudoku puzzles.

The Times of London and the rival Daily Mail started running the puzzles within three days of each other last November, sparking a craze that now finds Sudoku published in leading newspapers in 25 countries.

The game itself is simple in concept, but it can be made very difficult depending on the number and position of clues provided.

The Sudoku board is composed of a 9-by-9 grid, subdivided into nine 3-by-3 grids (called regions). The goal is to fill each box with a number from 1 to 9. Each 9-box row, column and region must contain only one of each number; some of the boxes are already filled in (these are called "givens"), providing clues on how to proceed.

Sudoku requires little more than simple logic and reasoning, however there are several strategies for analyzing and solving the puzzles.

An initial scan of the puzzle can help you get a grasp of the information already provided by the givens. Start by scanning each column to identify which line may contain a certain number using the process of elimination. It's best to scan numbers by order of frequency. Do the same for each row.

Next, count 1 through 9 in each column, row and region to determine which numbers are missing.

After completely scanning the grid, many Sudoku players make tentative notations of potential solutions in each box.

From there, you can employ a systematic elimination approach or, as many beginners do, opt for simple but tedious trial-and-error by filling in blanks with potential solutions and rescanning to see the effect of each move on the respective column, row or grid.

Of course, the best way to learn is simply to jump in and play.