As you have probably guessed, KenKen puzzles have nothing to do with Barbie or Street Fighter. They are a relatively new kind of mathematical puzzle similar to Sudoku, developed last year by a rather unorthodox Japanese Math teacher named Tetsuya Miyamoto.
An unsolved KenKen puzzle looks something like this:
A 6x6 KenKen Puzzle
Since this is a 6×6 puzzle (there are also 4×4 and 8×8 KenKens), every row and every column must contain the digits from 1 to 6 in some order. Notice that each one of the heavily outlined cages has a target (a number) and an operation assigned to it. These parameters can be seen at the top-left corner of each cage. The numbers occupying the cells of a cage must produce its target after being combined in some order using its operation. A cage consisting of only one square doesn’t have an operation and must simply be filled up with its target. Here is an example of a finished 4×4 KenKen puzzle:
A Finished 4x4 KenKen Puzzle
Check out KenKen.com for more information and puzzles.
The Hourly Puzzle 