Can You Solve the 'World's Hardest' Sudoku? We Couldn't

Arto Inkala, a mathematician based out of Finland, has created what can supposedly rival the world's most difficult sudoku puzzle.  Hosted on the website efamol.com, the puzzle has a staggering 11-star difficulty rating, compared to the average five stars seen in the newspaper.

The man spent close to three months creating the puzzle, and warns that it's not for the faint of heart.  His spokesman assures that it's not impossible to solve, but "we haven't had any reports of anyone else completing it yet."

Check out the puzzle, which the Telegraph has advertised as the "world's hardest," below:

For those who are unfamiliar, Sudoku has surged in popularity over the last ten years both for its entertainment value, and because studies have shown that engaging the mind with complex puzzles can help prevent diseases like Alzheimer's.

Count to Nine explains how to play:

 A sudoku puzzle consists of a 9 × 9–square grid subdivided into nine 3 × 3 boxes. Some of the squares contain numbers. The object is to fill in the remaining squares so that every row, every column, and every 3 × 3 box contains each of the numbers from 1 to 9 exactly once.

Solving a Sudoku puzzle involves pure logic. No guesswork is needed—or even desirable. Getting started involves mastering just a few simple techniques.

Think you're up to the challenge?

If you're the type that must know the answers (or you need a little help along the way), here is the solution.

(H/T: Daily Mail)