% Make the 9 strings into a cell array:
ca = {'idk','idk','idk';'idk','idk','idk';'idk','idk','idk'}
You'll see:
ca =
3×3 cell array
{'idk'} {'idk'} {'idk'}
{'idk'} {'idk'} {'idk'}
{'idk'} {'idk'} {'idk'}
If the 3 is really a variable, and you want an actual function instead of a single line of code, then you can do it like this, using repmat():
function ca = MakeCellArray(numRows)
% Make the 9 strings into a cell array:
oneCell = {'idk'}; % Make just one for a start.
% Turn it into a 3x3 array of cells
ca = repmat(oneCell, [numRows, numRows])
