Find the Cat #139: 8x8 Grid Puzzle (Medium)

medium

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

0 / 8 cats · 0:00
Red (10)Orange (5)Yellow (1)Green (5)Teal (7)Blue (16)Purple (10)Pink (10)

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 Yellow region has only one open square left: R5C7. Put a cat there.
  2. Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R3C1, R4C1, R6C2 and R7C2. Cross those squares out.
  3. Wherever the cat in the Green region ends up, it rules out R1C5, R2C5, R3C5, R4C5, R6C4, R7C4 and 2 more. Cross those squares out.
  4. Wherever the cat in the Purple region ends up, it rules out R8C3. Cross that square out.
  5. Wherever the cat in the Pink region ends up, it rules out R2C8 and R3C6. Cross those squares out.
  6. Wherever the cat in the Teal region ends up, it rules out R1C1, R1C2 and R1C3. Cross those squares out.
  7. Wherever the cat in row 4 ends up, it rules out R2C2, R3C2 and R3C3. Cross those squares out.
  8. Wherever the cat in column 2 ends up, it rules out R7C1. Cross that square out.
  9. Wherever the cat in row 7 ends up, it rules out R8C4. Cross that square out.
  10. Wherever the cat in column 4 ends up, it rules out R2C3. Cross that square out.
  11. The Red, Green and Purple regions can only use rows 6, 7 and 8, so rows 6, 7 and 8 are already spoken for. Cross out R6C1.
  12. The Orange region has only one open square left: R4C2. Put a cat there.
  13. Wherever the cat in column 3 ends up, it rules out R8C1. Cross that square out.
  14. Column 1 has only one open square left: R2C1. Put a cat there.
  15. The Pink region has only one open square left: R3C8. Put a cat there.
  16. The Red region has only one open square left: R8C6. Put a cat there.
  17. The Green region has only one open square left: R6C5. Put a cat there.
  18. The Teal region has only one open square left: R1C4. Put a cat there.
  19. The Purple region has only one open square left: R7C3. 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 16 squares. It can be solved in 19 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.

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.

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