Find the Cat #140: 8x8 Grid Puzzle (Medium)

medium

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

0 / 8 cats · 0:00
Red (8)Orange (9)Yellow (10)Green (8)Teal (1)Blue (12)Purple (12)Pink (4)

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 Teal region has only one open square left: R3C1. Put a cat there.
  2. Wherever the cat in the Red region ends up, it rules out R7C2. Cross that square out.
  3. Wherever the cat in the Green region ends up, it rules out R1C4. Cross that square out.
  4. Wherever the cat in the Pink region ends up, it rules out R7C5. Cross that square out.
  5. The Orange and Green regions can only use rows 1 and 2, so rows 1 and 2 are already spoken for. Cross out R2C4 and R2C7.
  6. The Red and Green regions can only use columns 2 and 3, so columns 2 and 3 are already spoken for. Cross out R4C3, R5C3, R6C2 and R6C3.
  7. Wherever the cat in the Blue region ends up, it rules out R4C5, R5C5, R6C4, R7C4 and R8C4. Cross those squares out.
  8. The Pink region has only one open square left: R8C5. Put a cat there.
  9. Wherever the cat in the Purple region ends up, it rules out R6C7. Cross that square out.
  10. Wherever the cat in row 6 ends up, it rules out R4C6, R5C7, R7C7 and R7C8. Cross those squares out.
  11. Row 7 has only one open square left: R7C3. Put a cat there.
  12. The Green region has only one open square left: R1C2. Put a cat there.
  13. Column 7 has only one open square left: R4C7. Put a cat there.
  14. The Blue region has only one open square left: R5C4. Put a cat there.
  15. The Purple region has only one open square left: R6C6. Put a cat there.
  16. The Orange region has only one open square left: R2C8. Put a cat there.

About this puzzle

Where to start: the Teal region is a single square, so its cat is already decided. Its 8 color regions range from 1 square (Teal) to 12 squares. It can be solved in 16 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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