Find the Cat #142: 8x8 Grid Puzzle (Medium)

medium

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

0 / 8 cats · 0:00
Red (3)Orange (6)Yellow (17)Green (9)Teal (1)Blue (8)Purple (13)Pink (7)

A 8x8 logic grid, 8 colors, 8 cats. Work out where each cat sits using nothing but the rules -- there is only one correct layout and no guessing is needed.

  • 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 Teal region has only one open square left: R5C8. Put a cat there.
  2. Wherever the cat in the Red region ends up, it rules out R1C1, R1C2, R1C3, R1C4, R1C5, R2C6 and 1 more. Cross those squares out.
  3. The Pink region has only one open square left: R3C7. Put a cat there.
  4. The Red region has only one open square left: R1C6. Put a cat there.
  5. Wherever the cat in the Blue region ends up, it rules out R2C3 and R2C4. Cross those squares out.
  6. Wherever the cat in the Yellow region ends up, it rules out R4C3. Cross that square out.
  7. Wherever the cat in row 7 ends up, it rules out R8C4 and R8C5. Cross those squares out.
  8. Wherever the cat in row 8 ends up, it rules out R6C1, R7C1, R7C2 and R7C3. Cross those squares out.
  9. Wherever the cat in row 7 ends up, it rules out R6C4 and R6C5. Cross those squares out.
  10. Wherever the cat in column 3 ends up, it rules out R7C4. Cross that square out.
  11. The Purple region has only one open square left: R7C5. Put a cat there.
  12. Column 4 has only one open square left: R4C4. Put a cat there.
  13. The Orange region has only one open square left: R6C2. Put a cat there.
  14. The Blue region has only one open square left: R2C1. Put a cat there.
  15. The Green region has only one open square left: R8C3. Put a cat there.

About this puzzle

Where to start: the Teal region is a single square, so its cat is already decided. Its 8 color regions range from 1 square (Teal) to 17 squares. It can be solved in 15 deduction steps using "wherever it goes" eliminations.

Start with the region that is a single square -- its cat has nowhere else to go. Cross out that cat's whole row, column and neighbors, then move on to the next-smallest regions: with only a couple of squares each, they leave very little room.

Stuck? Open the step-by-step solution below -- each step names the row, column or color involved, so you can use it as a hint and then finish the puzzle yourself.

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