Levels 7001 to 8000: 1000 boards from 9x9 and 10x10, on 2 lives, 1 on boss boards. Every 10th level is a boss board. Below: every technique this chapter needs, shown on its own boards, and two boards solved in full.
1000
Levels
2
Lives
100
Boss boards
What Phantom Pounce asks of you
A thousand levels split evenly between 9x9 and 10x10 boards, all needing the counting trick again and again. Regular boards give you two lives, and every boss board, always a 10x10, gives you one.
The bosses here include the hardest board on the whole ladder. Prove every cross before you place a cat, and recount the row, column and color once more, because one wrong cat ends the attempt.
Techniques you will need
Grey crosses are squares already ruled out. Coral marks what the step changes.
Last free squareA row, column or patch is down to one square that can still hold a cat, so the cat goes there.Needed on 100% of Phantom Pounce boards, about 9.5 times per board.Level 7001. Cat 3 of 9: the lilac patch is down to a single free square at row 5, column 7, so its cat settles there.
Patch in a lineEvery free square of a patch sits in one row or column, so that line belongs to the patch and the rest of it can be crossed out. It works the other way round too.Needed on 98% of Phantom Pounce boards, about 3.3 times per board.Level 7001. Every free square of the coral patch sits in column 1, so the coral cat must come from there and the rest of column 1 can be crossed out.
Dead-end squarePicture a cat on a square. If it would cross out every last spot in some row, column or patch, that square can never hold a cat.Needed on 100% of Phantom Pounce boards, about 16.9 times per board.Level 7001. A cat at row 3, column 3 would leave the rose patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out.
Counting trickWhen two patches fit entirely inside the same two rows (or three inside three, and so on), those rows are theirs. Every other square in them can be crossed out.Needed on 100% of Phantom Pounce boards, about 3.5 times per board.Level 7001. The coral and lime patches all squeeze into rows 8 and 9, so those rows are reserved for them; every other square there can be crossed out.
Cat 1 of 9: the yellow patch is down to a single free square at row 1, column 6, so its cat settles there.
Every free square of the coral patch sits in column 1, so the coral cat must come from there and the rest of column 1 can be crossed out. A cat at row 3, column 3 would leave the rose patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 3, column 8 would leave the sky patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 6, column 8 would leave the lilac patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 8, column 2 would leave column 1 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 6, column 3 would leave the aqua patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 7, column 4 would leave the aqua patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 8, column 3 would leave the lime patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. Every free square of the aqua patch sits in row 7, so the aqua cat must come from there and the rest of row 7 can be crossed out. A cat at row 6, column 2 would leave row 7 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 9, column 2 would leave column 1 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 9, column 5 would leave the lime patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. The coral and lime patches all squeeze into rows 8 and 9, so those rows are reserved for them; every other square there can be crossed out. Every free square of the peach patch sits in row 6, so the peach cat must come from there and the rest of row 6 can be crossed out. A cat at row 4, column 7 would leave column 8 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 4, column 8 would leave column 7 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. Every free square of the lilac patch sits in row 5, so the lilac cat must come from there and the rest of row 5 can be crossed out. A cat at row 4, column 3 would leave the mint patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 4, column 9 would leave column 8 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. The rose, mint, aqua and lime patches all squeeze into columns 2, 3, 4 and 5, so those columns are reserved for them; every other square there can be crossed out. Cat 2 of 9: the peach patch is down to a single free square at row 6, column 9, so its cat settles there.
Cat 3 of 9: the lilac patch is down to a single free square at row 5, column 7, so its cat settles there.
Cat 4 of 9: the sky patch is down to a single free square at row 2, column 8, so its cat settles there.
A cat at row 3, column 2 would leave column 5 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. Every free square of the mint patch sits in row 4, so the mint cat must come from there and the rest of row 4 can be crossed out. A cat at row 3, column 4 would leave column 5 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. Cat 5 of 9: the rose patch is down to a single free square at row 3, column 5, so its cat settles there.
Cat 6 of 9: the mint patch is down to a single free square at row 4, column 2, so its cat settles there.
Cat 7 of 9: the aqua patch is down to a single free square at row 7, column 3, so its cat settles there.
Cat 8 of 9: the lime patch is down to a single free square at row 9, column 4, so its cat settles there.
Cat 9 of 9: the coral patch is down to a single free square at row 8, column 1, so its cat settles there.
Every free square of the rose patch sits in column 10, so the rose cat must come from there and the rest of column 10 can be crossed out. A cat at row 2, column 9 would leave column 10 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 1, column 7 would leave the yellow patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 3, column 6 would leave the sky patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 3, column 9 would leave column 10 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 6, column 2 would leave the aqua patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 8, column 1 would leave the aqua patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 8, column 8 would leave the coral patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 10, column 9 would leave the coral patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. The yellow and sky patches all squeeze into rows 1 and 2, so those rows are reserved for them; every other square there can be crossed out. Cat 1 of 10: the rose patch is down to a single free square at row 3, column 10, so its cat settles there.
A cat at row 4, column 6 would leave the mint patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 5, column 4 would leave the mint patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. The yellow and coral patches all squeeze into columns 8 and 9, so those columns are reserved for them; every other square there can be crossed out. A cat at row 4, column 1 would leave row 6 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 4, column 5 would leave the lilac patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 5, column 1 would leave row 6 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 5, column 2 would leave row 6 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 5, column 3 would leave the mint patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 5, column 7 would leave the lilac patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 6, column 4 would leave the mint patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 6, column 5 would leave row 5 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 6, column 6 would leave row 5 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 6, column 7 would leave the lilac patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 7, column 2 would leave row 6 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 9, column 1 would leave the aqua patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 9, column 2 would leave column 1 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. The mint and lilac patches all squeeze into rows 4 and 5, so those rows are reserved for them; every other square there can be crossed out. A cat at row 7, column 3 would leave column 2 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 7, column 4 would leave column 3 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 8, column 3 would leave column 2 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 8, column 4 would leave column 2 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 8, column 5 would leave column 2 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 9, column 3 would leave column 2 with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. A cat at row 10, column 5 would leave the periwinkle patch with no home for its cat, so cross that square out. The coral, lime and periwinkle patches all squeeze into rows 8, 9 and 10, so those rows are reserved for them; every other square there can be crossed out. Cat 2 of 10: column 2 has exactly one square left, at row 10, so the cat goes there.
Cat 3 of 10: column 3 has exactly one square left, at row 6, so the cat goes there.
Cat 4 of 10: the aqua patch is down to a single free square at row 7, column 1, so its cat settles there.
Cat 5 of 10: column 4 has exactly one square left, at row 4, so the cat goes there.
Cat 6 of 10: the lilac patch is down to a single free square at row 5, column 6, so its cat settles there.
Cat 7 of 10: the only free square left in row 8 is column 9, so the cat goes there.
Cat 8 of 10: the only free square left in row 1 is column 8, so the cat goes there.
Cat 9 of 10: the sky patch is down to a single free square at row 2, column 5, so its cat settles there.
Cat 10 of 10: the lime patch is down to a single free square at row 9, column 7, so its cat settles there.
Stuck on a different board? Tap the hint paw in the game: it points at the row, column or patch where the next forced move hides, and only shows the square if you ask again.
