An Integer Programming Model for the KenKen Problem

Abstract

In this paper we consider modeling techniques for the mathematical puzzle KenKen. It is an interesting puzzle from modeling point of view since it has different kind of mathematical restrictions that are not trivial to express as linear constraints. We give an integer program for solving KenKen and and its implementation on modeling language AMPL. Our integer program uses an innovative way for converting product restrictions into linear constraints. It can be also used for teaching various integer programming techniques in an Operations Research course.