Find the Cat #107: 8x8 Grid Puzzle (Medium)

medium

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

0 / 8 cats · 0:00
Red (12)Orange (2)Yellow (9)Green (12)Teal (8)Blue (10)Purple (10)Pink (1)

Can you place all 8 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 Pink region has only one open square left: R5C4. Put a cat there.
  2. The Orange region has only one open square left: R1C5. Put a cat there.
  3. Wherever the cat in the Yellow region ends up, it rules out R6C7. Cross that square out.
  4. Wherever the cat in the Green region ends up, it rules out R2C2. Cross that square out.
  5. Wherever the cat in the Teal region ends up, it rules out R3C7, R3C8 and R4C7. Cross those squares out.
  6. Wherever the cat in the Blue region ends up, it rules out R7C7, R8C2 and R8C3. Cross those squares out.
  7. Wherever the cat in row 8 ends up, it rules out R7C2. Cross that square out.
  8. Wherever the cat in column 1 ends up, it rules out R6C2. Cross that square out.
  9. Wherever the cat in column 2 ends up, it rules out R2C3, R3C1, R3C3 and R4C1. Cross those squares out.
  10. Column 3 has only one open square left: R7C3. Put a cat there.
  11. The Yellow region has only one open square left: R6C6. Put a cat there.
  12. The Teal region has only one open square left: R2C7. Put a cat there.
  13. The Red region has only one open square left: R8C1. Put a cat there.
  14. The Purple region has only one open square left: R4C8. Put a cat there.
  15. The Green region has only one open square left: R3C2. 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 12 squares. It can be solved in 15 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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