Cofusing "Sudoku" With "Sodoku"

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been bitten by the "Sudoku" bug (if you're not sure about what the heck I'm talking about, check out the Wikipedia listing). The New York Post has been including this in each edition of the paper, and I've been ripping it out to work on later in the day, along with Will Shortz's crossword puzzle in the New York Times.

I'll fill it out on the subway, in the coffee shop, during a quick smoke break, whenever.

But here is where I caution everyone else about telling people about their addiction to this puzzle. As I found out today, the similar-sounding and similarly-spelled "Sodoku" is "an infection resulting from exposure to rats. Rat bite is the most common form of transmission, but other rat-contaminated substances can also transfer the disease to humans."

I found this out the hard way yesterday, when -- after I was asked by an elderly gentleman what I was doing -- said I "was suffering from Sudoku."

The gentleman spoke to me for 20 minutes, telling me I should go to a doctor and asking more about me. I thought he was nuts, but he just misunderstood me. No wonder he told me to not let it fester. Here, he thought he was helping to save my life and I was merely tolerating him.

It only finally dawned on me tonight, coming across the eCureMe listing for "Sodoku" tonight when I was trying to find a puzzle helper site for "Sudoku," similar to OneAcross.com for the Times crossword.

Note to all I have confused: I am not suffering from a rat bite. I just need to go out more, obviously, and stop playing distracting games.