1001 ones to waste a evening.

They seemed harmless enough sitting on the newsstand. The perfect way to make a long journey feel shorter. How wrong could I have been. If you have been wondering what I have been up to while I was AWOL these f***ing puzzles are part of the answer. The word "Logic" should have been enough but ohh no being male I was too proud to admit defeat that quickly. How hard could they be, after all the information required is right before your eyes. Its not as if the puzzle is going to punish you for not knowing who's 8th in line to the throne like a general knowledge puzzle might (no Maria before you suggest it, the answer isn't duck).

The theory is simple. The numbers tell you how many squares in that row or column have to be coloured in and you have to work out which of the squares need to be coloured. For example the top row 2,3,2,3 means that the first rectangle would be of 2 continuously coloured squares followed by at least a gap of one clear squares, then 3 colured, gap, two coloured, gap and finally 3 coloured. Once the whole grid is completed it should reveal a picture that makes the graphics on an old commodore 64 look like a piece of art.

The trouble I am finding is that I can continue with delightful ignorant bless thinking I am the most logically person in the world before finding I have gone wrong 2/3rds of the way into the puzzle. Its not as if I can work out where I went wrong either, so its out with the eraser, go straight to the start and do not collect 200 pounds for passing go. I wish I never saw the damn puzzles in the first place but at the same time I find them strangely addictive. So if I disappear again, fear not, I am sitting slumped at a table pulling my hair out trying to work out which square to colour in while turning the air blue.