For the archetypal puzzle-solving, pen-sucking, mildly obsessive but essentially minding-his-own business British male (pipe optional, nerdish streak compulsory), it was an arresting moment. Women not only triumphed at the weekend’s first Times National Su Doku Championship, they ruled the roost. (Thank goodness for Matthew Funnell, winner among 12 to 16-year-olds, who salvaged some male pride.)

It has long been one of the quiet little (guilty?) secrets of the Su Doku phenomenon that there are as many women addicts and dabblers as men. What was not clear, until the weekend, though, was the clear superiority of women over men. Despite being outnumbered three to one in the opening round, the six “man” grand final included four women. Women came first (Nina Pell, aged 18), second and fourth. The under-12 title went to Hannah Cooper. What’s going on, chaps?

Perhaps the men were put off by having to compete in Cheltenham Ladies’ College. But the event may well have revealed a wider truth about the art and science (for Su Doku transcends such simple definition) of the infuriating yet infectious square. A Su Doku is logical, for those who can comprehend it, the very opposite of a cryptic crossword, whose adherents tend to be men. Instead of toying with a single clue, a Su Doku grand mistress is simultaneously eyeing up squares, down columns and along rows. And evidently, because she rattles through in no time, she wastes less time than men, who are prone to make sloppy errors and leave clothes in a heap on the bedroom floor and forget to put the milk back in the fridge. Su Doku is a lot more than just a numbers game.