Find the Cat #253: 10x10 Grid Puzzle (Hard)

hard

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

0 / 10 cats · 0:00
Red (11)Orange (9)Yellow (1)Green (14)Teal (4)Blue (8)Purple (8)Pink (25)Brown (16)Grey (4)

Every row, every column and every color region needs exactly one cat -- but no two cats may touch, not even diagonally. This puzzle is a 10x10 grid with 10 colored regions.

  • 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 Yellow region has only one open square left: R1C1. Put a cat there.
  2. Wherever the cat in the Teal region ends up, it rules out R9C2, R9C3, R10C4, R10C5, R10C6, R10C7 and 3 more. Cross those squares out.
  3. The Grey region has only one open square left: R9C8. Put a cat there.
  4. Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R7C5 and R8C3. Cross those squares out.
  5. Wherever the cat in the Blue region ends up, it rules out R3C2, R4C2, R5C2, R6C2, R7C3 and R10C2. Cross those squares out.
  6. The Teal region has only one open square left: R10C3. Put a cat there.
  7. Wherever the cat in the Purple region ends up, it rules out R2C4, R2C5, R2C6 and R2C9. Cross those squares out.
  8. Wherever the cat in the Red region ends up, it rules out R3C4, R3C7, R3C9, R3C10, R4C5 and R4C6. Cross those squares out.
  9. Wherever the cat in the Brown region ends up, it rules out R5C5 and R7C4. Cross those squares out.
  10. Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R8C2, R8C6 and R8C10. Cross those squares out.
  11. The Blue region has only one open square left: R7C2. Put a cat there.
  12. Wherever the cat in the Pink region ends up, it rules out R5C7. Cross that square out.
  13. Wherever the cat in column 9 ends up, it rules out R4C10, R5C10 and R6C10. Cross those squares out.
  14. Column 10 has only one open square left: R2C10. Put a cat there.
  15. Wherever the cat in column 7 ends up, it rules out R5C6 and R6C9. Cross those squares out.
  16. Wherever the cat in the Green region ends up, it rules out R4C4. Cross that square out.
  17. The Orange and Brown regions can only use columns 4 and 5, so columns 4 and 5 are already spoken for. Cross out R3C5.
  18. The Red region has only one open square left: R3C6. Put a cat there.
  19. The Green region has only one open square left: R4C9. Put a cat there.
  20. The Pink region has only one open square left: R6C7. Put a cat there.
  21. The Brown region has only one open square left: R5C4. Put a cat there.
  22. The Orange region has only one open square left: R8C5. Put a cat there.

About this puzzle

Where to start: the Yellow region is a single square, so its cat is already decided. Its 10 color regions range from 1 square (Yellow) to 25 squares. It can be solved in 22 deduction steps using grouped row/column/region deductions.

Look for a color that sits entirely inside one row or one column. Its cat must be in that line, so every other square in that line can be crossed out.

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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