Full-Contact Sudoku

My oldest nephew (12 years old) had a very important question for me. "Do you Sudoku?"

"Occasionally," I said.

"Ha! Can you finish Expert mode puzzles in less than 3 minutes?"

He whipped out his iPad and pulled up the high scores to show me. "See?", he bragged. At the top of the list was his name, and a very impressive "82,325" high score.

"Wait a minute," said my mom. She peered at the screen. "Something's wrong here. Your highest score was 83 thousand, wasn't it? Oh, wait..." Mom grinned wickedly. "I remember now. That was *my* high score, not yours."

Nephew turned bright red. "I'll beat that right now." He started tapping at his screen.

Dad chuckled. "You and your Grandma could be a team, you two could beat anybody."

Nephew tapped in a few more numbers, but then got his elbow caught in the back of his chair.

The Elbow-Snatcher!

"Ow!"

"Uh-oh," Dad said. "Looks like we've got a sports injury here."

My mom jumped in. "It's like tennis elbow, right?"

Nephew was turning even brighter red from embarrassment. Dad and Mom didn't let up.

"You'll have to put a brace on it and play hurt."

"Good thing I'm the one with the high score, since I'll have to carry the team."

I chimed in, mimicking a sportscaster. "Team Nephew is playing today with a 25-second handicap due to an elbow injury."

Nephew's face was completely hidden by now. He was looking down at the iPad in his lap, trying to ignore us.

I leaned in close. "It's OK man," I told him. "Chicks dig scars."

I don't think I'm his favorite uncle anymore. :)