Cranks My Tractor

Howard Garns worked for an architecture firm in Indianapolis, Indiana. Like most folks, his mind sometimes wandered to his true passion while at work. Howard didn’t dream of curing diseases or coming up with an invention that would be used throughout the world. Howard simply liked entertaining people.

A co-worker once caught Howard working on one of his secret ideas. Howard quickly covered up the sketches on his drawing board when his co-worker moved in for a closer look. When confronted about what he was working on, Howard replied, “It’s just a game.”

Howard Garns died of cancer in October of 1989. He was buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.

If he only knew – I’m sure Howard would be very satisfied with the way his game really turned out.

There have been studies that suggest Howard’s secret creation slows Alzheimer’s and dementia. There is no doubt that Howard’s brainchild has spread all over of the world.

However, folks don’t know about Howard Garns and it’s a shame.

Howard was born in Connersville, Indiana in 1905. Connersville didn’t even officially claim Howard until they realized how famous he was to be. It still hasn’t worked out so well. I didn’t know who Howard was or what he did until I stumbled upon it by mistake.

Connersville needed another famous person to claim. They had Otto Miessner. You don’t know Otto? Dr. Miessner established the first high school marching band in the United States in 1906, the year after Howard was born. Where would we be without marching bands? How would parades look? What about college and high school football?

Connersville can also claim part of country music legend and Grand Ole Opry member, Tom T. Hall. Mr. Hall, “the storyteller,” got his start in Connersville playing the guitar and passing the hat. He was down on his luck and staying with an old Army buddy. He wrote and sang, “Thank You, Connersville” about his experience getting started in Connersville.

Howard’s first published his secret game in 1979. At that time, Howard had retired as an architect and was a freelance puzzle constructor. Some folks say Mr. Garns' puzzle was inspired by mathematician Leonhard Euler, as far as I’m concerned, the game was invented by Howard. Lots of folks inspire us every day.

Being a math guy, I appreciate Euler and all of the wonderful things he did. However, at some point the Swiss need to stop claiming that everything was originally thought up by one of their countrymen. They may have forgotten that Euler moved to Russia and didn’t come back. They still think Adam and Eve were Swiss. Maybe they were.

Howard was working for Dell Magazines creating math and number puzzles. He loved creating puzzles and entertaining people. Howard titled his game “Number Place,” and it was published in Dell’s Pencil Puzzles and Word Games magazine in 1979.

The puzzle Howard created started appearing in Japan in 1984 in a monthly magazine. In 1986, it was one of the hottest selling puzzles in Japan. A software company published Howard’s game for the Commodore 64 computer in 1989 and called it “DigitHunt.”

In November of 2004, the London Times decided to put the puzzle in their paper. It was big hit and it started spreading like wildfire. Howard had been dead for fifteen years and his game was spreading like a virus.

Papers in the United States were now running the game every day in their puzzle section. In puzzle talk, Howard Garns created the “Rubik’s cube of the 21st century.”

The Japanese called it “Sudoku.” We know it as Sudoku. Sudoku is a shortened version of a Japanese phrase that means, “The numbers must be single.” Facts are facts; the numbers are Howard’s. The game is Howard’s; he invented it in his spare time when he was bored of drawing buildings and bridges.

Sudoku is not Japanese; it wasn’t invented by Leonhard Euler or Walter Mackey. Walter was another puzzle constructor for Dell magazines and he probably hasn’t even been to Connersville, Indiana.

Now I’m not saying the Japanese don’t invent some really cool things – they do. They just didn’t invent Sudoku. They have invented this really neat bear for people that snore. If you start snoring, it tickles you. Really, you need to see it.  I snore.

Honestly, there needs to be a worldwide effort to rename the game. Maybe we should call it Howard’s Numbers – because they are Howard’s numbers.

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