Find the Cat #248: 10x10 Grid Puzzle (Hard)

hard

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

0 / 10 cats · 0:00
Red (5)Orange (12)Yellow (15)Green (12)Teal (13)Blue (10)Purple (12)Pink (14)Brown (1)Grey (6)

Can you place all 10 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 Brown region has only one open square left: R7C1. Put a cat there.
  2. Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R9C3, R9C4 and R10C3. Cross those squares out.
  3. The Grey region has only one open square left: R10C2. Put a cat there.
  4. The Orange region has only one open square left: R8C3. Put a cat there.
  5. Wherever the cat in the Purple region ends up, it rules out R1C6, R1C7, R1C8, R1C9, R1C10, R2C4 and 1 more. Cross those squares out.
  6. Wherever the cat in the Red region ends up, it rules out R3C9. Cross that square out.
  7. Wherever the cat in the Blue region ends up, it rules out R3C7. Cross that square out.
  8. Wherever the cat in the Pink region ends up, it rules out R9C6. Cross that square out.
  9. The Red and Blue regions can only use rows 2 and 3, so rows 2 and 3 are already spoken for. Cross out R3C6 and R3C8.
  10. The Red and Teal regions can only use columns 9 and 10, so columns 9 and 10 are already spoken for. Cross out R5C9 and R9C9.
  11. Wherever the cat in the Pink region ends up, it rules out R5C5 and R6C5. Cross those squares out.
  12. The Green, Purple and Pink regions can only use columns 4, 5 and 6, so columns 4, 5 and 6 are already spoken for. Cross out R2C6, R3C4 and R3C5.
  13. Row 3 has only one open square left: R3C10. Put a cat there.
  14. The Teal region has only one open square left: R6C9. Put a cat there.
  15. The Pink region has only one open square left: R9C5. Put a cat there.
  16. The Purple region has only one open square left: R1C4. Put a cat there.
  17. Wherever the cat in the Yellow region ends up, it rules out R4C6. Cross that square out.
  18. The Green region has only one open square left: R5C6. Put a cat there.
  19. The Yellow region has only one open square left: R4C8. Put a cat there.
  20. The Blue region has only one open square left: R2C7. Put a cat there.

About this puzzle

Where to start: the Brown region is a single square, so its cat is already decided. Its 10 color regions range from 1 square (Brown) to 15 squares. It can be solved in 20 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.

Every puzzle on this site has exactly one solution that can be reached by pure deduction. If you find yourself guessing, look again for a region or line with only a few open squares left.

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