- UPATREE
- Completely helpless
- Like cats waiting for the fire department, perhaps
- Like kitty waiting out her canine pursuer, perhaps
- Trapped
- Like a stuck cat
- Trapped in branches
- Without means of escape
- Stumped, informally
- Stuck
- In hot water
- In a difficult situation
- In hot water, say
- Stuck, in a way
- Squirreled away?
- Stumped
- Done for
- Like a cornered cat
- In real trouble
- Helpless
- In trouble
- Unable to escape
- Stumped, rather fittingly
- Cornered
- Cornered: Colloq.
- Stymied: Colloq.
- In a dilemma.
- Trapped: Colloq.
- Having rough going
- Stymied
- Out on a limb, in a way
- High and dry
- Untenably positioned
- Powerless to progress
- Like some cats in need of rescue
- Stuck, with no way to get down
- Cornered ... or hint to this puzzle's circled squares
- Stuck, with no easy way down
- In a tough jam
- Out on a limb
- Unable to flee
- Cornered, using an arboreal metaphor
- Lacking any chance of progressing
