Find the Cat #94: 6x6 Grid Puzzle (Easy)
easyTap a square: ✕ (ruled out) → 🐱 (cat) → clear
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.
- The Blue region has only one open square left: R6C1. Put a cat there.
- Wherever the cat in the Red region ends up, it rules out R3C3. Cross that square out.
- Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R4C4, R4C5, R5C3 and R5C6. Cross those squares out.
- Wherever the cat in the Yellow region ends up, it rules out R3C6. Cross that square out.
- Wherever the cat in the Green region ends up, it rules out R1C3. Cross that square out.
- Wherever the cat in column 3 ends up, it rules out R3C2 and R3C4. Cross those squares out.
- Row 3 has only one open square left: R3C5. Put a cat there.
- The Orange region has only one open square left: R5C4. Put a cat there.
- The Red region has only one open square left: R4C2. Put a cat there.
- The Green region has only one open square left: R2C3. Put a cat there.
- The Teal region has only one open square left: R1C6. Put a cat there.
About this puzzle
Where to start: the Blue region is a single square, so its cat is already decided. Its 6 color regions range from 1 square (Blue) to 9 squares. It can be solved in 11 deduction steps using "wherever it goes" eliminations.
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.
This is a variation of the Star Battle family of grid puzzles, sometimes also called Queens-style puzzles, with cats in place of stars.