Find the Cat #121: 8x8 Grid Puzzle (Medium)

medium

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

0 / 8 cats · 0:00
Red (8)Orange (10)Yellow (6)Green (6)Teal (11)Blue (7)Purple (15)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: R5C8. Put a cat there.
  2. Wherever the cat in the Yellow region ends up, it rules out R3C2 and R4C4. Cross those squares out.
  3. Wherever the cat in the Red region ends up, it rules out R2C5. Cross that square out.
  4. Wherever the cat in the Green region ends up, it rules out R1C1, R1C2, R1C3, R1C4 and R2C6. Cross those squares out.
  5. Wherever the cat in the Blue region ends up, it rules out R2C2, R4C1, R6C1, R7C1 and R8C1. Cross those squares out.
  6. The Red, Yellow and Blue regions can only use rows 2, 3 and 4, so rows 2, 3 and 4 are already spoken for. Cross out R2C7, R3C6, R3C7 and R4C6.
  7. The Teal region has only one open square left: R6C6. Put a cat there.
  8. The Orange region has only one open square left: R8C7. Put a cat there.
  9. The Green region has only one open square left: R1C5. Put a cat there.
  10. Wherever the cat in the Red region ends up, it rules out R3C3 and R4C3. Cross those squares out.
  11. The Yellow region has only one open square left: R4C2. Put a cat there.
  12. The Blue region has only one open square left: R2C1. Put a cat there.
  13. The Red region has only one open square left: R3C4. Put a cat there.
  14. The Purple region has only one open square left: R7C3. 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 15 squares. It can be solved in 14 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.

More medium puzzles