Big Game Sudoku!

Our Cal Bears don’t have a football game this week, but that doesn’t mean Cal fans shouldn’t have a game. With our hated rivals rearing their ugly tree heads next Saturday, we Cal fans already have the Big Game on our minds. So here’s a Big Game-related game for you to think about while we wait for Big Game Week to arrive!

I think most people know what a Sudoku puzzle is; they’re published next to the crossword in most major newspapers, and there are books and apps which people use to solve them while they’re on a plane or waiting at the doctor’s office. In case you’re not familiar with the concept of Sudoku, here’s a quick explainer on how it works. Essentially, it’s a 9x9 matrix made up of nine 3x3 sub-matrices. Each 9-box row or column, and each 3x3 square within the puzzle should contain all of the numbers 1-9 exactly once.

Well, instead of numbers, we’re going to do it with letters instead, and if you can figure it out, you’ll be able to decode a secret Big Game-related message hidden in the highlighted gold squares:

I got the idea from Ricky Muncie over at Roll Bama Roll, so hat tip to him. Once you’ve solved it, feel free to brag about it in the comments section, but if you’re going to do that, make sure you use the spoiler protection <span class="spoiler">like this, to black it out</span> so that you don’t ruin the puzzle for anyone else.

If you don’t want to print out the image file I uploaded, and would rather use a blank Sudoku grid to fill in online, you can find one here.

Have fun, and Go Bears!