KenKen

American  

[ken-ken] / ˈkɛnˌkɛn /

Trademark.

1. a brand name for a numerical logic puzzle printed on a grid subdivided into clusters of squares, or cages, the object of which is to fill in the squares so that each column and row do not repeat digits, and all the numbers within a cage combine together using the specified arithmetic operation to equal a target number.

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Etymology

Origin of KenKen

First recorded in 2004, KenKen is from the Japanese word ken “cleverness”; invented by the teacher Tetsuya Miyamoto as a learning tool

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

KenKen

“In order to keep my brain functioning,” 73-year-old Jairo Angulo of West L.A. wrote, “I play Wordle, complete the Jumble, do the Sudoku, KenKen and crossword puzzles daily.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2023

“That really struck a chord because when I had been working on Good Sudoku, my mom was really trying to get me to make a KenKen game instead,” Gage says.

From The Verge ● Apr. 25, 2022

KenKen is really interesting because in sudoku, you’re just applying patterns.

From The Verge ● Apr. 25, 2022

Just forget the whole word thing and devote my life to KenKen and Sudoku?

From New York Times ● Jul. 11, 2011

It costs less than a book of KenKen, and it's filled with dozens of different types of puzzles—word, logic, math, visual, the whole gamut.

From Slate ● Feb. 20, 2009