Meowdoku Level 5: Free Online Puzzle

A cat in every region, row and column; none touching, corners included. Strategy guide.

Reading Level 5's six regions

Pink takes R5C6, R6C4, R6C5 and R6C6: 4 cells.

The blue cells: R4C1 and R4C2 (a two-cell strip).

Lilac takes R4C4, R5C1, R5C2, R5C3, R5C4, R5C5, R6C1, R6C2 and R6C3: 9 cells.

Green takes R3C1, R3C2, R3C3 and R4C3: 4 cells.

Salmon = a 8-cell patch, cells R1C1, R1C2, R1C3, R1C4, R2C1, R2C2, R2C3 and R2C4.

Cream takes R1C5, R1C6, R2C5, R2C6, R3C4, R3C5, R3C6, R4C5 and R4C6: 9 cells.

Pink borders cream ×2, lilac ×8.

Blue touches green ×6, lilac ×5.

Lilac touches green ×5, cream ×6, blue ×5, pink ×8.

Green touches salmon ×8, blue ×6, cream ×2, lilac ×5.

Salmon touches cream ×7, green ×8.

Cream touches salmon ×7, green ×2, lilac ×6, pink ×2.

Each contact is a no-touch wall (even the diagonal ones), so a placed cat silences every cell it touches across those borders.

How to Solve Level 5, Step by Step

Start with the smallest region and work outward. Blue is two cells, R4C1 and R4C2, both in row 4, so row 4's cat is inside blue and R4C3, R4C4, R4C5 and R4C6 are out on the first move. Green then has only R3C1, R3C2 and R3C3 open, all in row 3, so row 3's cat belongs to green and its other cells (R3C4, R3C5, R3C6) are gone.

Blue's two cells now decide each other. Empty R4C1 and green has no legal cell left for its cat, so R4C1 is the blue cat, and R4C2 goes with it. Row 3 collapses to R3C3, which takes the green cat; row 3 closes, and columns 1 and 3 close with it (R1C1, R2C1, R6C1 and R1C3, R5C3, R6C3).

Cream owns row 2: R2C5 and R2C6 are its only open cells there, so cream's cat is on row 2 and R1C5, R1C6 leave.

R1C2 is next, and it is another one-line test: empty it and row 5 runs out of cells for its cat, so R1C2 holds the salmon cat. R1C4 goes with row 1.

Row 6's open cells, R6C4, R6C5 and R6C6, all sit in pink, so pink's cat is on row 6 and R5C6 is out. Empty R5C4 and row 6 starves, so R5C4 takes the lilac cat.

Trace the chain of causes: two cells in blue fixed row 4, row 4 fixed green's shape, green fixed row 3, and row 3 handed over columns 1 and 3. A pair of cells in the right place can carry a third of the board.

Only counting is left. R6C6 is row 6's last open cell, R2C5 is column 5's. That gives R1C2, R2C5, R3C3, R4C1, R5C4, R6C6: one cat per row, column and region, no two touching, corners included. Every step above was either a region with one home left or a single contradiction check, and the board was proven unique before publication.

Where Level 5 wants you to slip

The quiet mistake is R5C1. One cat there and the blue region has no home left on the whole grid.

Hints for Level 5: Four Nudges

• Blue is R4C1 and R4C2, both in row 4, so row 4's cat is one of them and R4C3, R4C4, R4C5, R4C6 are out on the first move.
• Green is left with R3C1, R3C2, R3C3, all in row 3, so row 3's cat belongs to green and R3C4, R3C5, R3C6 go. Empty R4C1 and green has no legal cell, so R4C1 is the cat.
• That hands row 3 to R3C3 and closes columns 1 and 3. Cream then owns row 2, killing R1C5 and R1C6, and R1C2 must be the salmon cat because emptying it starves row 5.
• Row 6 belongs to pink, so R5C6 is out, and R5C4 must take the lilac cat because emptying it starves row 6. The finish is two counts: R6C6 for row 6, R2C5 for column 5.

Answer for Level 5

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