Train brains - Soduku - the new commuter meme

Phew - we have all gone Soduku crazy in the UK it seems. Every night for the last 2 or 3 weeks I have seen increasing numbers of people scrutinising papers, sucking biros and looking up and to the left (or is to the right you NLP'ers out there) on the train going home. It's a simple game but it has caught the imagination of the nation. It has created a tidalwave of additional books, tipsters, blogs, conversations, and potentially additional sales of newspapers. It is amazing that even people who I am quite convinced have not bothered with a crossword for a few months or years have suddenly got the bug. What a great meme - this one has certainly tipped. Will it travel abroad - if not that would be highly interesting as it could be just the commuter thing at work - or something terribly English. Anyone hooked on it at the moment that can help illuminate why? Happy Soduku-ing...