Find the Cat #201: 10x10 Grid Puzzle (Hard)

hard

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

0 / 10 cats · 0:00
Red (9)Orange (12)Yellow (6)Green (13)Teal (10)Blue (15)Purple (10)Pink (10)Brown (14)Grey (1)

Find the 10 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 Grey region has only one open square left: R1C4. Put a cat there.
  2. The Yellow region has only one open square left: R2C7. Put a cat there.
  3. Wherever the cat in the Red region ends up, it rules out R3C2, R4C2, R5C3, R6C3, R7C3, R8C3 and 2 more. Cross those squares out.
  4. Wherever the cat in the Teal region ends up, it rules out R4C5 and R5C5. Cross those squares out.
  5. Wherever the cat in the Purple region ends up, it rules out R5C1 and R6C1. Cross those squares out.
  6. The Red and Teal regions can only use rows 3 and 4, so rows 3 and 4 are already spoken for. Cross out R3C1, R3C9, R3C10, R4C1, R4C8, R4C9 and 1 more.
  7. The Purple region has only one open square left: R5C2. Put a cat there.
  8. The Red region has only one open square left: R3C3. Put a cat there.
  9. The Teal region has only one open square left: R4C6. Put a cat there.
  10. The Orange region has only one open square left: R6C5. Put a cat there.
  11. Wherever the cat in the Pink region ends up, it rules out R7C9, R8C9, R9C10 and R10C10. Cross those squares out.
  12. The Brown region has only one open square left: R7C8. Put a cat there.
  13. The Pink region has only one open square left: R8C10. Put a cat there.
  14. The Green region has only one open square left: R10C9. Put a cat there.
  15. The Blue region has only one open square left: R9C1. Put a cat there.

About this puzzle

Where to start: the Grey region is a single square, so its cat is already decided. Its 10 color regions range from 1 square (Grey) to 15 squares. It can be solved in 15 deduction steps using grouped row/column/region deductions.

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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