Find the Cat #188: 8x8 Grid Puzzle (Medium)

medium

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

0 / 8 cats · 0:00
Red (11)Orange (7)Yellow (13)Green (11)Teal (7)Blue (1)Purple (4)Pink (10)

Find the 8 hidden cats. Each row, each column and each colored region holds exactly one, and cats never sit on neighboring squares, diagonals included.

  • 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: R2C3. Put a cat there.
  2. Wherever the cat in the Green region ends up, it rules out R5C5. Cross that square out.
  3. Wherever the cat in the Teal region ends up, it rules out R8C5. Cross that square out.
  4. Wherever the cat in the Purple region ends up, it rules out R7C7, R8C1, R8C2 and R8C4. Cross those squares out.
  5. The Teal region has only one open square left: R7C4. Put a cat there.
  6. The Orange region has only one open square left: R6C6. Put a cat there.
  7. Wherever the cat in the Pink region ends up, it rules out R3C1 and R5C2. Cross those squares out.
  8. Column 2 has only one open square left: R4C2. Put a cat there.
  9. The Green region has only one open square left: R3C5. Put a cat there.
  10. Row 5 has only one open square left: R5C8. Put a cat there.
  11. The Purple region has only one open square left: R8C7. Put a cat there.
  12. The Red region has only one open square left: R1C1. 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 13 squares. It can be solved in 12 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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