  Pattern-Based Constraint Satisfaction and Logic Puzzles develops a pure
logic, pattern-based perspective of solving the finite Constraint Satisfaction
Problem (CSP), with emphasis on finding the "simplest" solution. Different ways
of reasoning with the constraints are formalised by various families of
"resolution rules", each of them carrying its own notion of simplicity. A large
part of the book illustrates the power of the approach by applying it to
various popular logic puzzles. It provides a unified view of how to model and
solve them, even though they involve very different types of constraints:
obvious symmetric ones in Sudoku, non-symmetric but transitive ones
(inequalities) in Futoshiki, topological and geometric ones in Map colouring,
Numbrix and Hidato, and even much more complex non-binary arithmetic ones in
Kakuro (or Cross Sums). It also shows that the most familiar techniques for
these puzzles can indeed be understood as mere application-specific
presentations of the general rules. Sudoku is used as the main example
throughout the book, making it also an advanced level sequel to "The Hidden
Logic of Sudoku" (another book by the same author), with: many examples of
relationships among different rules and of exceptional situations; comparisons
of the resolution potential of various families of rules; detailed statistics
of puzzles hardness; analysis of extreme instances.
