Find the Cat #187: 8x8 Grid Puzzle (Medium)

medium

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

0 / 8 cats · 0:00
Red (8)Orange (1)Yellow (13)Green (12)Teal (9)Blue (6)Purple (6)Pink (9)

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 Orange region has only one open square left: R5C8. Put a cat there.
  2. Wherever the cat in the Teal region ends up, it rules out R3C6. Cross that square out.
  3. Wherever the cat in the Blue region ends up, it rules out R1C6 and R3C7. Cross those squares out.
  4. Wherever the cat in the Teal region ends up, it rules out R4C4. Cross that square out.
  5. Wherever the cat in the Purple region ends up, it rules out R1C4, R2C3 and R3C5. Cross those squares out.
  6. Wherever the cat in the Teal region ends up, it rules out R4C1, R4C2 and R4C3. Cross those squares out.
  7. Wherever the cat in the Green region ends up, it rules out R2C2. Cross that square out.
  8. Wherever the cat in row 6 ends up, it rules out R7C1, R7C3 and R8C2. Cross those squares out.
  9. Wherever the cat in column 1 ends up, it rules out R7C2. Cross that square out.
  10. Wherever the cat in row 7 ends up, it rules out R6C6, R8C4 and R8C5. Cross those squares out.
  11. Wherever the cat in column 2 ends up, it rules out R1C1 and R2C1. Cross those squares out.
  12. The Red, Blue and Purple regions can only use rows 1, 2 and 3, so rows 1, 2 and 3 are already spoken for. Cross out R3C1 and R3C2.
  13. The Green region has only one open square left: R6C2. Put a cat there.
  14. Column 1 has only one open square left: R8C1. Put a cat there.
  15. Wherever the cat in the Red region ends up, it rules out R2C4. Cross that square out.
  16. Column 4 has only one open square left: R3C4. Put a cat there.
  17. The Teal region has only one open square left: R4C6. Put a cat there.
  18. Row 2 has only one open square left: R2C7. Put a cat there.
  19. The Pink region has only one open square left: R7C5. Put a cat there.
  20. The Red region has only one open square left: R1C3. Put a cat there.

About this puzzle

Where to start: the Orange region is a single square, so its cat is already decided. Its 8 color regions range from 1 square (Orange) to 13 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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