Find the Cat #185: 8x8 Grid Puzzle (Medium)

medium

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

0 / 8 cats · 0:00
Red (6)Orange (9)Yellow (11)Green (8)Teal (15)Blue (11)Purple (3)Pink (1)

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 Pink region has only one open square left: R1C8. Put a cat there.
  2. The Purple region has only one open square left: R8C7. Put a cat there.
  3. Wherever the cat in the Red region ends up, it rules out R2C2, R3C2, R4C2, R6C1 and R6C3. Cross those squares out.
  4. Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R2C3 and R2C5. Cross those squares out.
  5. Wherever the cat in the Yellow region ends up, it rules out R2C6, R3C6, R4C6, R5C5 and R6C5. Cross those squares out.
  6. The Blue region has only one open square left: R3C5. Put a cat there.
  7. The Orange region has only one open square left: R2C1. Put a cat there.
  8. Row 4 has only one open square left: R4C3. Put a cat there.
  9. The Green region has only one open square left: R7C4. Put a cat there.
  10. The Red region has only one open square left: R6C2. Put a cat there.
  11. The Yellow region has only one open square left: R5C6. Put a cat there.

About this puzzle

Where to start: the Pink region is a single square, so its cat is already decided. Its 8 color regions range from 1 square (Pink) to 15 squares. It can be solved in 11 deduction steps using "wherever it goes" eliminations.

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.

Stuck? Open the step-by-step solution below -- each step names the row, column or color involved, so you can use it as a hint and then finish the puzzle yourself.

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