Find the Cat #141: 8x8 Grid Puzzle (Medium)

medium

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

0 / 8 cats · 0:00
Red (7)Orange (8)Yellow (1)Green (9)Teal (8)Blue (15)Purple (11)Pink (5)

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 Yellow region has only one open square left: R4C5. Put a cat there.
  2. Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R7C7. Cross that square out.
  3. Wherever the cat in the Pink region ends up, it rules out R1C8, R2C8, R3C8, R5C7, R6C7, R7C8 and 1 more. Cross those squares out.
  4. The Red region has only one open square left: R8C7. Put a cat there.
  5. The Green region has only one open square left: R1C6. Put a cat there.
  6. Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R6C3, R6C4, R7C1 and R7C2. Cross those squares out.
  7. Wherever the cat in the Teal region ends up, it rules out R3C2. Cross that square out.
  8. Wherever the cat in the Blue region ends up, it rules out R2C2. Cross that square out.
  9. Wherever the cat in the Purple region ends up, it rules out R5C2. Cross that square out.
  10. Column 2 has only one open square left: R6C2. Put a cat there.
  11. The Orange region has only one open square left: R7C4. Put a cat there.
  12. The Blue region has only one open square left: R3C3. Put a cat there.
  13. The Teal region has only one open square left: R2C1. Put a cat there.
  14. The Pink region has only one open square left: R5C8. Put a cat there.

About this puzzle

Where to start: the Yellow region is a single square, so its cat is already decided. Its 8 color regions range from 1 square (Yellow) to 15 squares. It can be solved in 14 deduction steps using "wherever it goes" eliminations.

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.

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