Find the Cat #110: 8x8 Grid Puzzle (Medium)

medium

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

0 / 8 cats · 0:00
Red (9)Orange (8)Yellow (9)Green (5)Teal (14)Blue (14)Purple (1)Pink (4)

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 Purple region has only one open square left: R8C2. Put a cat there.
  2. Wherever the cat in the Yellow region ends up, it rules out R6C4 and R6C5. Cross those squares out.
  3. Wherever the cat in the Pink region ends up, it rules out R1C5 and R2C7. Cross those squares out.
  4. Wherever the cat in column 8 ends up, it rules out R4C7, R6C6, R6C7, R7C6 and R7C7. Cross those squares out.
  5. The Green and Pink regions can only use rows 1 and 2, so rows 1 and 2 are already spoken for. Cross out R1C1, R1C8, R2C1 and R2C8.
  6. Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R3C4, R3C5, R3C6, R3C7 and R3C8. Cross those squares out.
  7. The Red and Orange regions can only use columns 1 and 3, so columns 1 and 3 are already spoken for. Cross out R1C3, R2C3, R4C3 and R6C3.
  8. Wherever the cat in the Yellow region ends up, it rules out R7C8. Cross that square out.
  9. Wherever the cat in the Green region ends up, it rules out R2C5, R4C4, R5C4 and R7C4. Cross those squares out.
  10. The Yellow region has only one open square left: R7C5. Put a cat there.
  11. Wherever the cat in the Teal region ends up, it rules out R5C7. Cross that square out.
  12. Column 7 has only one open square left: R1C7. Put a cat there.
  13. The Green region has only one open square left: R2C4. Put a cat there.
  14. The Orange region has only one open square left: R3C1. Put a cat there.
  15. The Red region has only one open square left: R5C3. Put a cat there.
  16. The Blue region has only one open square left: R4C6. Put a cat there.
  17. The Teal region has only one open square left: R6C8. Put a cat there.

About this puzzle

Where to start: the Purple region is a single square, so its cat is already decided. Its 8 color regions range from 1 square (Purple) 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