Find the Cat #128: 8x8 Grid Puzzle (Medium)

medium

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

0 / 8 cats · 0:00
Red (6)Orange (6)Yellow (8)Green (7)Teal (11)Blue (16)Purple (9)Pink (1)

Find the 8 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 Pink region has only one open square left: R8C8. Put a cat there.
  2. Wherever the cat in the Red region ends up, it rules out R6C2. Cross that square out.
  3. Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R2C6. Cross that square out.
  4. Wherever the cat in the Yellow region ends up, it rules out R5C7. Cross that square out.
  5. Wherever the cat in the Purple region ends up, it rules out R6C5, R7C1, R7C2 and R7C3. Cross those squares out.
  6. The Red region has only one open square left: R6C1. Put a cat there.
  7. Wherever the cat in the Yellow region ends up, it rules out R3C6, R4C6 and R4C7. Cross those squares out.
  8. Wherever the cat in the Green region ends up, it rules out R1C5 and R2C3. Cross those squares out.
  9. Wherever the cat in row 4 ends up, it rules out R3C4, R3C5 and R5C3. Cross those squares out.
  10. Wherever the cat in row 5 ends up, it rules out R4C5. Cross that square out.
  11. Wherever the cat in row 4 ends up, it rules out R3C3. Cross that square out.
  12. Wherever the cat in column 3 ends up, it rules out R2C2. Cross that square out.
  13. The Orange and Yellow regions can only use columns 6 and 7, so columns 6 and 7 are already spoken for. Cross out R7C6.
  14. The Blue and Purple regions can only use columns 4 and 5, so columns 4 and 5 are already spoken for. Cross out R1C4, R2C4 and R2C5.
  15. Row 2 has only one open square left: R2C7. Put a cat there.
  16. The Yellow region has only one open square left: R5C6. Put a cat there.
  17. The Blue region has only one open square left: R4C4. Put a cat there.
  18. The Teal region has only one open square left: R3C2. Put a cat there.
  19. The Green region has only one open square left: R1C3. Put a cat there.
  20. The Purple region has only one open square left: R7C5. 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 16 squares. It can be solved in 20 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.

This is a variation of the Star Battle family of grid puzzles, sometimes also called Queens-style puzzles, with cats in place of stars.

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