Find the Cat #104: 8x8 Grid Puzzle (Medium)

medium

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

0 / 8 cats · 0:00
Red (8)Orange (8)Yellow (5)Green (1)Teal (14)Blue (7)Purple (14)Pink (7)

A 8x8 logic grid, 8 colors, 8 cats. Work out where each cat sits using nothing but the rules -- there is only one correct layout and no guessing is needed.

  • 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 Green region has only one open square left: R3C8. Put a cat there.
  2. Wherever the cat in the Red region ends up, it rules out R5C5 and R5C6. Cross those squares out.
  3. Wherever the cat in the Yellow region ends up, it rules out R1C5, R1C6, R2C1, R2C2, R2C3 and R2C4. Cross those squares out.
  4. Wherever the cat in the Blue region ends up, it rules out R4C2 and R5C4. Cross those squares out.
  5. Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R6C1 and R6C7. Cross those squares out.
  6. Wherever the cat in the Pink region ends up, it rules out R1C1, R1C2 and R1C3. Cross those squares out.
  7. Wherever the cat in row 7 ends up, it rules out R8C2. Cross that square out.
  8. Wherever the cat in row 8 ends up, it rules out R7C4, R7C5, R7C6 and R7C7. Cross those squares out.
  9. Wherever the cat in row 7 ends up, it rules out R4C1, R5C1 and R6C2. Cross those squares out.
  10. Wherever the cat in column 1 ends up, it rules out R7C2. Cross that square out.
  11. Column 2 has only one open square left: R5C2. Put a cat there.
  12. Wherever the cat in column 3 ends up, it rules out R8C4. Cross that square out.
  13. The Red and Yellow regions can only use columns 5 and 6, so columns 5 and 6 are already spoken for. Cross out R6C5, R6C6, R8C5 and R8C6.
  14. The Orange region has only one open square left: R6C4. Put a cat there.
  15. The Purple region has only one open square left: R7C1. Put a cat there.
  16. The Pink region has only one open square left: R1C7. Put a cat there.
  17. The Yellow region has only one open square left: R2C5. Put a cat there.
  18. The Red region has only one open square left: R4C6. Put a cat there.
  19. The Teal region has only one open square left: R8C3. Put a cat there.

About this puzzle

Where to start: the Green region is a single square, so its cat is already decided. Its 8 color regions range from 1 square (Green) to 14 squares. It can be solved in 19 deduction steps using grouped row/column/region deductions.

Start with the region that is a single square -- its cat has nowhere else to go. Cross out that cat's whole row, column and neighbors, then move on to the next-smallest regions: with only a couple of squares each, they leave very little room.

When you fill the last cat, press Check Answer -- the grid is verified against the stored solution and any broken rule is named so you know where to look.

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