Find the Cat #69: 6x6 Grid Puzzle (Easy)

easy

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

0 / 6 cats · 0:00
Red (5)Orange (7)Yellow (6)Green (10)Teal (1)Blue (7)

Can you place all 6 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 Teal region has only one open square left: R6C3. Put a cat there.
  2. Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R2C5, R4C4 and R4C5. Cross those squares out.
  3. Wherever the cat in the Blue region ends up, it rules out R1C6, R2C6, R3C6 and R5C5. Cross those squares out.
  4. Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R2C4, R3C1 and R3C2. Cross those squares out.
  5. The Yellow region has only one open square left: R1C5. Put a cat there.
  6. The Red region has only one open square left: R2C1. Put a cat there.
  7. The Orange region has only one open square left: R3C4. Put a cat there.
  8. The Green region has only one open square left: R4C2. Put a cat there.
  9. The Blue region has only one open square left: R5C6. Put a cat there.

About this puzzle

Where to start: the Teal region is a single square, so its cat is already decided. Its 6 color regions range from 1 square (Teal) to 10 squares. It can be solved in 9 deduction steps using "wherever it goes" eliminations.

If a row and a color both have only two open squares and share them, those two lines are locked together -- neither can use squares anywhere else.

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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