Meowdoku Level 6: Free Online Puzzle

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

Reading Level 6's six regions

The pink cells: R4C6, R5C6, R6C4, R6C5 and R6C6 (a 5-cell patch).

Lilac takes R4C4, R5C1, R5C2, R5C4, R5C5, R6C1, R6C2 and R6C3: 8 cells.

Cream takes R1C1, R1C2, R2C1 and R3C1 (4 cells, holding the top-left corner).

Blue takes R3C2, R4C1 and R4C2: 3 cells.

The green cells: R1C4, R2C3, R2C4, R2C6, R3C5, R3C6 and R4C5 (a 7-cell patch).

Salmon takes R1C3, R1C5, R1C6, R2C2, R2C5, R3C3, R3C4, R4C3 and R5C3: 9 cells.

Pink meets green ×4, lilac ×8, salmon ×1.

Lilac touches salmon ×10, green ×4, blue ×4, pink ×8.

Cream borders salmon ×5, green ×1, blue ×4.

Blue touches cream ×4, salmon ×6, green ×1, lilac ×4.

Green meets cream ×1, salmon ×19, blue ×1, pink ×4, lilac ×4.

Salmon touches cream ×5, green ×19, blue ×6, lilac ×10, pink ×1.

Read the ×N counts as pressure: the higher the number, the more a cat placed in one region squeezes its neighbour.

How to Solve Level 6, Step by Step

Nothing on this board is forced at the start, so the first pass is a sweep of one-move tests: put a cat on a cell, propagate, and see which unit runs dry. Eleven cells fail that test in the top three rows. R1C4, R1C6, R1C5, R1C1, R2C2, R2C3, R2C4, R2C5, R3C1, R3C2 and R3C4. Their reasons differ; the effect is the same.

Group them by what breaks. Blue is the victim twice: R3C1 and R2C3 each leave the region with no legal cell. Columns account for three more. R3C2 would put two cats in column 1, R1C4 starves column 2, R1C5 empties column 4. Rows account for four: R1C1, R2C4 and R3C4 all leave row 5 with nowhere to go, and R1C6 does the same to row 4. The last two are region kills, R2C2 giving salmon two cats and R2C5 leaving green with none.

With R3C2 gone, blue's remaining cells are R4C1 and R4C2, both in row 4, so row 4's cat is blue and R4C3, R4C4, R4C5, R4C6 are out. The salmon region's open cells, R1C3, R3C3 and R5C3, all sit in column 3, so column 3's cat is salmon's and R6C3 goes.

One choice remains in the lower half: empty R5C4 and column 6 has no cell left for its cat. R5C4 is the lilac cat, and row 5 closes (R5C1, R5C2, R5C6).

If you are solving this one on paper, do the sweep first and strike all eleven cells before placing anything. It feels slow for a minute, and then the rest of the board has almost no wrong turns left in it.

The rest is counting, unit by unit: R3C5 for column 5, R6C6 for column 6, R2C1 for row 2, R4C2 for column 2, R1C3 for column 3. The solution is R1C3, R2C1, R3C5, R4C2, R5C4, R6C6. It is the only arrangement that satisfies all three constraints at once, and the sweep above only ever removed cells that provably could not hold a cat.

Where Level 6 wants you to slip

Try R5C5 first and the pink region is wiped out in one move. Every cell it owns aligns with that spot, same line, or one corner over.

Hints for Level 6: Four Nudges

• No cell is forced at the start, so sweep before you place. Eleven cells in the top three rows fail a one-move test: R1C4, R1C6, R1C5, R1C1, R2C2, R2C3, R2C4, R2C5, R3C1, R3C2, R3C4.
• Their reasons differ. R3C1 and R2C3 leave blue with no cell, R3C2 would put two cats in column 1, R1C4 starves column 2, R1C5 empties column 4, and R1C1, R2C4, R3C4 all leave row 5 short.
• With those gone, blue is down to R4C1 and R4C2, both in row 4, so row 4's cat is blue. Salmon's open cells (R1C3, R3C3, R5C3) all sit in column 3, so column 3's cat is salmon's and R6C3 is out.
• One decision remains: empty R5C4 and column 6 has no legal cell, so R5C4 is the lilac cat. After that, five single-cell units: R3C5, R6C6, R2C1, R4C2, R1C3.

Answer for Level 6

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