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

“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

But in KenKen, every situation is unique and you have to sort of think through the possibilities of the space.’”

From The Verge • Apr. 25, 2022

Tetsuya Miyamoto, inventor of KenKen, and David Masunaga, a math teacher, will explain some of pi’s funny and offbeat occurrences.

From New York Times • Mar. 13, 2014

Unlike Sudoku, popularized as a Japanese puzzle craze though invented in the 1970s by an architect from Indiana, KenKen really was created by an Asian fellow, a Tokyoite math teacher named Tetsuya Miyamoto.

From Slate • Feb. 20, 2009