I've noticed that, although N's powers of analysis are indeed formidable, she often doesn't have much patience with someone else's analysis, especially if she's already convinced that hers is the correct one.

Possibly the difference between literary and scientific analysis. As a scientist (and a programmer) I'm always keenly aware of the fact that I'm probably wrong.

As for sudoku, once I convinced myself that there was a simple algorithm for solving it I lost interest.