<p>Mathematician Daniel Katz, caught up in the worldwide passion for the London Olympics, designed a Futoshiki puzzle inspired by the five Olympic rings. </p>

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Daniel Katz, a newly hired lecturer in mathematics, is also a master of puzzles. To celebrate the Olympics he’s created a custom version of the Sudoku-like game Futoshiki just for Brown.edu.

The puzzle is an exercise in mental gymnastics, where a strong sense of logic will be required to step onto the podium. Much as the Olympics separates champions from other talented people who performed just slightly less well at the same time, this puzzle involves mathematical inequalities.