Find the Cat #137: 8x8 Grid Puzzle (Medium)

medium

Tap a square: ✕ (ruled out) → 🐱 (cat) → clear

0 / 8 cats · 0:00
Red (7)Orange (13)Yellow (6)Green (7)Teal (5)Blue (1)Purple (15)Pink (10)

Can you place all 8 cats? One per row, one per column, one per color -- and keep them at least one square apart in every direction.

  • One cat in every row and every column.
  • One cat in every color region.
  • Cats can’t touch — not even diagonally.

Step-by-step solution

Squares are written as R<row>C<column>, counting from the top-left. Cross out the squares listed, and place a cat wherever a step says so.

  1. The Blue region has only one open square left: R1C7. Put a cat there.
  2. The Red region has only one open square left: R2C5. Put a cat there.
  3. Wherever the cat in the Green region ends up, it rules out R4C2. Cross that square out.
  4. Wherever the cat in the Teal region ends up, it rules out R5C8, R6C8, R7C8 and R8C8. Cross those squares out.
  5. Wherever the cat in row 8 ends up, it rules out R7C2. Cross that square out.
  6. The Green and Teal regions can only use rows 3 and 4, so rows 3 and 4 are already spoken for. Cross out R3C3, R4C3, R4C4 and R4C6.
  7. Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R5C4 and R6C2. Cross those squares out.
  8. Wherever the cat in the Purple region ends up, it rules out R5C3 and R6C6. Cross those squares out.
  9. Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R6C1. Cross that square out.
  10. Wherever the cat in row 6 ends up, it rules out R7C3 and R7C4. Cross those squares out.
  11. The Orange and Purple regions can only use rows 5 and 6, so rows 5 and 6 are already spoken for. Cross out R5C1.
  12. The Yellow and Green regions can only use columns 1 and 2, so columns 1 and 2 are already spoken for. Cross out R5C2.
  13. The Orange region has only one open square left: R6C3. Put a cat there.
  14. The Purple region has only one open square left: R5C6. Put a cat there.
  15. The Pink region has only one open square left: R8C4. Put a cat there.
  16. The Yellow region has only one open square left: R7C1. Put a cat there.
  17. The Green region has only one open square left: R3C2. Put a cat there.
  18. The Teal region has only one open square left: R4C8. Put a cat there.

About this puzzle

Where to start: the Blue region is a single square, so its cat is already decided. Its 8 color regions range from 1 square (Blue) to 15 squares. It can be solved in 18 deduction steps using grouped row/column/region deductions.

A useful habit is to mark squares you have ruled out. Tap a square once for a cross and twice for a cat -- crosses cost nothing and make later deductions much easier to spot.

This is a variation of the Star Battle family of grid puzzles, sometimes also called Queens-style puzzles, with cats in place of stars.

More medium puzzles