Meowdoku Level 7: Free Online Puzzle

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

Reading Level 7's six regions

Pink takes R6C6: 1 cell tucked into the bottom-right corner.

The lilac cells: R4C4, R5C3, R5C4, R6C3 and R6C4 (a 5-cell patch).

Blue takes R3C1, R3C2, R4C1, R4C2, R5C1, R5C2, R6C1 and R6C2 (8 cells).

Green = a 9-cell patch, cells R1C6, R2C6, R3C5, R3C6, R4C5, R4C6, R5C5, R5C6 and R6C5.

Cream takes R1C1, R1C2, R2C2, R2C3, R2C4, R2C5, R3C3, R3C4 and R4C3: 9 cells.

Salmon takes R1C3, R1C4, R1C5 and R2C1 (4 cells).

Pink meets green ×3.

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

Blue borders salmon ×2, cream ×8, lilac ×5.

Green touches salmon ×2, cream ×7, lilac ×8, pink ×3.

Cream touches salmon ×12, green ×7, blue ×8, lilac ×5.

Salmon touches cream ×12, green ×2, blue ×2.

Every touch above is a live constraint: a cat on one side of a border rules the touching cells on the other side out, corners included.

How to Solve Level 7, Step by Step

Pink is a single cell again, R6C6, so the cat goes there and both of its lines close: row 6 loses R6C1 to R6C4, column 6 loses R1C6 to R4C6. Green immediately offers the next deduction, because its only open cells, R3C5 and R4C5, sit in column 5. Column 5's cat is green's, so R1C5 and R2C5 are out.

Two cells in the top left cannot hold cats. Put one on R1C1 and the salmon region is left with nothing; put one on R1C2 and the same thing happens. Both are out.

Row 1's open cells are then R1C3 and R1C4, both salmon, so salmon's cat is in row 1 and R2C1 is gone. Row 2's open cells (R2C2, R2C3, R2C4) all belong to cream, so cream's cat is in row 2 and R3C3, R3C4, R4C3 are out.

Column 1's open cells are R3C1, R4C1 and R5C1, all blue, so blue's cat is in column 1 and R3C2, R4C2, R5C2 fall away. Column 2 is down to R2C2 alone, inside row 2, so row 2's cat must be R2C2 and R2C3, R2C4 go.

That leaves the bottom half easy: R3C5 is row 3's only open cell, R4C1 is row 4's, R5C3 is column 3's, R1C4 is column 4's.

The technique to carry away is the pointing deduction: when every open cell of a row sits inside one region, that region's cat is on the row, and the rest of the region is dead. Three of the six cats here arrived exactly that way.

Read the cats back: R1C4, R2C2, R3C5, R4C1, R5C3, R6C6. Six rows, six columns, six regions, one cat each, and no pair of cats within a single step of another. Two moves needed a contradiction check; the other four came from shapes sitting inside each other, which is what makes this board faster than it looks.

Where Level 7 wants you to slip

The quiet mistake is R2C6. One cat there and the pink region has no home left on the whole grid.

Hints for Level 7: Four Nudges

• Pink is a single cell, R6C6. Take it and both of its lines close: row 6 loses R6C1 to R6C4, column 6 loses R1C6 to R4C6.
• Green offers the next deduction, because its open cells R3C5 and R4C5 both sit in column 5, so column 5's cat is green's and R1C5, R2C5 are out.
• Two cells in the top left die on the same test: a cat on R1C1 or R1C2 would leave salmon with nothing. That hands row 1 to salmon, which kills R2C1, and row 2 to cream, which kills R3C3, R3C4, R4C3.
• Column 1 belongs to blue, so R3C2, R4C2, R5C2 go; column 2 belongs to row 2, leaving R2C2 as the cat. Then R3C5, R4C1, R5C3 and R1C4 are the last cells of their units.

Answer for Level 7

FAQ