Find the Cat #148: 8x8 Grid Puzzle (Medium)

medium

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

0 / 8 cats · 0:00
Red (10)Orange (5)Yellow (9)Green (1)Teal (10)Blue (8)Purple (7)Pink (14)

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 Green region has only one open square left: R5C6. Put a cat there.
  2. Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R2C7. Cross that square out.
  3. Wherever the cat in the Yellow region ends up, it rules out R8C4. Cross that square out.
  4. Wherever the cat in the Blue region ends up, it rules out R2C8 and R3C8. Cross those squares out.
  5. Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R1C1, R1C2, R1C3, R1C4 and R1C5. Cross those squares out.
  6. Wherever the cat in the Purple region ends up, it rules out R7C2. Cross that square out.
  7. The Orange and Blue regions can only use columns 7 and 8, so columns 7 and 8 are already spoken for. Cross out R6C8, R7C7, R7C8, R8C7 and R8C8.
  8. The Teal region has only one open square left: R8C5. Put a cat there.
  9. Wherever the cat in the Yellow region ends up, it rules out R2C4 and R3C4. Cross those squares out.
  10. Wherever the cat in the Purple region ends up, it rules out R6C2. Cross that square out.
  11. Wherever the cat in the Pink region ends up, it rules out R2C3, R3C2, R4C2, R4C4, R6C3 and R7C3. Cross those squares out.
  12. The Yellow region has only one open square left: R6C4. Put a cat there.
  13. The Purple region has only one open square left: R7C1. Put a cat there.
  14. The Red region has only one open square left: R2C2. Put a cat there.
  15. The Pink region has only one open square left: R4C3. Put a cat there.
  16. The Blue region has only one open square left: R3C7. Put a cat there.
  17. The Orange region has only one open square left: R1C8. Put a cat there.

About this puzzle

Where to start: the Green region is a single square, so its cat is already decided. Its 8 color regions range from 1 square (Green) to 14 squares. It can be solved in 17 deduction steps using grouped row/column/region deductions.

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.

More medium puzzles