Some puzzles are created by matters of happenstance. The first diagramless crossword was created when an editor took a puzzle to lunch but realized he had just the clues and not the grid. Instead of waiting to find the grid, the experiment of trying to solve with just the clues created the diagramless crossword. Well, in this case, a puzzle was created by a ridiculous combination of words in a book title.

A couple months ago, I discovered and was disappointed by the book "Paint by Sudoku." It is simply a collection of Paint By Number puzzles which were rebranded as "Paint by Sudoku". I made the comment that perhaps all puzzles could be rebranded sudoku; at the time though an idea started festering that maybe one could write a Paint By Sudoku puzzle that would do justice to the term.

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