Puzzle Description:

A Tic-Tac-Toe game that ended in a tie.

#1: Jen (lightvader) on Mar 13, 2008

Why is it called "Cat's Game?"

As a cat owner I will totally make up an answer to your question. I can imagine that if you win then you get to keep the paper to show how many times you won. If the game ends in a tie then you just throw the paper on the floor for the cat. Any cat owner knows that a cat cannot resist paper on the floor. =^..^=

I think this looks like a lovely piece of wooden lattice- neat symmetry! Thanks.

I'll accept that answer.

mercymercy, you are hilarious! :-D I am owned by 3 cats myself, so I can relate.

I don't think anyone knows where the name came from, but I like that theory.

Other theories I have heard are actually less convincing. One has to do with "cat" being "tac" backwards, but that really doesn't explain anything.

Another has to do with the fact that nearly all cat's games have this pattern in them:

 . . #
 # . .
 . # #

which maybe looks like a cat or like the letter C. Dunno.

I always thought it came from the game being "scratched." But I have no idea where I got that from. Great puzzle. Thanks.

Well see it all makes sense.. why should the game be "scratched"? Of course after you throw it on the floor and the cat finds it, well, then it gets scratched ;)

Just wondering why one box was left blank.

Because no matter who went next, there's no way either side can win.

I know that, but when I played, we always just filled in the last box every time. So it was weird to me to see it left blank.

I always filled the last box too.

I was wondering the same thing monkey. We always filled in the last box as well. I loved playing Tic-Tac-Toe. I was pretty good at it, until I played my twin sister...lol She always knew how to block us into a cat's game. I don't think we have ever beat each other at the game...hmm...anyway. Great Job!

I wonder why Amber didn´t explain the name of this puzzle.
In spanish, the word "gato" has several meanings:
- The animal: Cat
- The lifting device: Jack
- In Latinamerica, the symbol: Hash (#).
- In Latinamerica, at least in México and Chile, the game: Tic-tac-toe, also known as "Tres en Línea" (three in a line) in other countries.
I think the name of the game in spanish comes from the similarity with the hash symbol.
I hope this comment be read by those who were trying to find an explanation.

As far as I know, "Cat's game" refers to a game of tic-tac-toe that nobody can win and not tic-tac-toe itself.

Goto next topic

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