Puzzle gm-6-0010

6 × 6 intro

Take this puzzle one clear step at a time.

Try the puzzle yourself, then explore how the deductions build.

Puzzle board · starting state

gm-6-0010: 6×6 regional boardAAABBBAAEBBBDDECCCDEEEECDDFEECDFFFFC

Your starting point

This original 6×6 board has 6 connected regions and 2 fixed cats. The smallest region is A, with 5 cells. Start by ruling out every other cell in each fixed cat’s row, column and region, plus its immediate neighbors.

The verified route below uses 4 forced placements and 0 candidate-elimination steps after the givens. Region sizes: A: 5 · B: 6 · C: 6 · D: 6 · E: 8 · F: 5. These are observations about this board, not a guarantee that a smaller region always contains the next move.

Read each diagram in sequence. Cats and × marks in the before-state come from earlier deductions. Green outlines identify the current observation. Open the final answer only when you want the spoiler.

Step-by-step walkthrough

1Check region C

region C has only one remaining candidate: row 3, column 4. Every other cell is excluded by earlier placements or deductions. Place the cat here.

gm-6-0010: 6×6 regional boardAAA×B×B×B×A×A×E×B×B×BDDE×CC×C×DEE×EEC×DD×F×E×EC×D×F×FF×F×C×Before step 1. Place one cat, then exclude 4 other cells.

2Check column 5

column 5 has only one remaining candidate: row 5, column 5. Every other cell is excluded by earlier placements or deductions. Place the cat here.

gm-6-0010: 6×6 regional boardAAA×B×B×B×A×A×E×B×B×BD×D×E×CC×C×DEE×E×E×C×DD×F×E×EC×D×F×FF×F×C×Before step 2. Place one cat, then exclude 2 other cells.

3Check row 4

row 4 has only one remaining candidate: row 4, column 1. Every other cell is excluded by earlier placements or deductions. Place the cat here.

gm-6-0010: 6×6 regional boardAAA×B×B×B×A×A×E×B×B×BD×D×E×CC×C×DE×E×E×E×C×D×D×F×E×EC×D×F×FF×F×C×Before step 3. Place one cat, then exclude 1 other cells.

4Check row 1

row 1 has only one remaining candidate: row 1, column 2. Every other cell is excluded by earlier placements or deductions. Place the cat here.

gm-6-0010: 6×6 regional boardA×AA×B×B×B×A×A×E×B×B×BD×D×E×CC×C×DE×E×E×E×C×D×D×F×E×EC×D×F×FF×F×C×Before step 4. Place one cat, then exclude 0 other cells.
Show solution · reveals all cat positions

The final cats satisfy every row, column and region quota, with no edge or corner contact.

gm-6-0010: 6×6 regional boardAAABBBAAEBBBDDECCCDEEEECDDFEECDFFFFC

Cat positions: r1c2, r2c6, r3c4, r4c1, r5c5, r6c3.

Try another puzzle

How this puzzle and its reasoning are verified