Find the Cat #130: 8x8 Grid Puzzle (Medium)

medium

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

0 / 8 cats · 0:00
Red (9)Orange (11)Yellow (7)Green (1)Teal (9)Blue (8)Purple (9)Pink (10)

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 Green region has only one open square left: R1C1. Put a cat there.
  2. Wherever the cat in the Blue region ends up, it rules out R3C3, R3C4 and R4C3. Cross those squares out.
  3. Wherever the cat in the Purple region ends up, it rules out R2C3, R2C6, R2C7, R2C8 and R3C5. Cross those squares out.
  4. The Blue region has only one open square left: R3C2. Put a cat there.
  5. Wherever the cat in the Orange region ends up, it rules out R7C4. Cross that square out.
  6. Wherever the cat in the Yellow region ends up, it rules out R5C6 and R7C7. Cross those squares out.
  7. Wherever the cat in the Teal region ends up, it rules out R4C7, R4C8 and R5C5. Cross those squares out.
  8. Wherever the cat in the Pink region ends up, it rules out R6C4. Cross that square out.
  9. Wherever the cat in column 7 ends up, it rules out R5C8, R6C8 and R7C6. Cross those squares out.
  10. Wherever the cat in column 8 ends up, it rules out R8C5, R8C6 and R8C7. Cross those squares out.
  11. Wherever the cat in column 6 ends up, it rules out R5C7. Cross that square out.
  12. Column 7 has only one open square left: R6C7. Put a cat there.
  13. The Red region has only one open square left: R8C8. Put a cat there.
  14. The Orange region has only one open square left: R7C3. Put a cat there.
  15. The Pink region has only one open square left: R5C4. Put a cat there.
  16. The Teal region has only one open square left: R4C6. Put a cat there.
  17. The Purple region has only one open square left: R2C5. Put a cat there.

About this puzzle

Where to start: the Green region is a single square, so its cat is already decided. Its 8 color regions range from 1 square (Green) to 11 squares. It can be solved in 17 deduction steps using "wherever it goes" eliminations.

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.

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