Find the Cat #178: 8x8 Grid Puzzle (Medium)

medium

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

0 / 8 cats · 0:00
Red (4)Orange (11)Yellow (7)Green (1)Teal (5)Blue (16)Purple (6)Pink (14)

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 Green region has only one open square left: R1C1. Put a cat there.
  2. Wherever the cat in the Red region ends up, it rules out R2C6, R2C8, R3C6, R3C8, R4C7, R5C7 and 3 more. Cross those squares out.
  3. Wherever the cat in the Yellow region ends up, it rules out R6C3 and R8C2. Cross those squares out.
  4. Wherever the cat in the Teal region ends up, it rules out R8C8. Cross that square out.
  5. Wherever the cat in the Purple region ends up, it rules out R7C2, R7C3, R7C4 and R7C5. Cross those squares out.
  6. The Yellow region has only one open square left: R6C2. Put a cat there.
  7. Wherever the cat in the Pink region ends up, it rules out R4C3. Cross that square out.
  8. Wherever the cat in row 4 ends up, it rules out R3C5 and R5C5. Cross those squares out.
  9. Wherever the cat in row 5 ends up, it rules out R4C5. Cross that square out.
  10. The Blue and Purple regions can only use columns 6 and 8, so columns 6 and 8 are already spoken for. Cross out R4C6 and R8C6.
  11. Wherever the cat in the Pink region ends up, it rules out R2C4, R3C4 and R8C3. Cross those squares out.
  12. The Red and Pink regions can only use rows 2 and 3, so rows 2 and 3 are already spoken for. Cross out R2C5.
  13. Column 5 has only one open square left: R8C5. Put a cat there.
  14. The Purple region has only one open square left: R7C8. Put a cat there.
  15. The Blue region has only one open square left: R5C6. Put a cat there.
  16. The Orange region has only one open square left: R4C4. Put a cat there.
  17. The Pink region has only one open square left: R2C3. Put a cat there.
  18. The Red region has only one open square left: R3C7. 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 16 squares. It can be solved in 18 deduction steps using grouped row/column/region deductions.

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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