Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — January 2, 2026

Friday · 12×12 · Hard · Easy · 13 deductions

12 queens left to place.

Tap once to rule a cell out, twice to place a queen. Right-click marks an exclusion directly. Arrow keys move between cells.

A 12x12 board split into 12 colour regions, needing 12 queens: one per row, one per column, one per region, none touching. Regions run from 1 to 31 cells.

The daily board is the same for everyone and gets harder as the week goes on: Friday is set to hard. Every daily puzzle has one solution and needs no guessing.

How this board is solved

Solving this 12x12 board takes 13 deductions and needs only the basic deductions, drawing on 3 distinct techniques. The first queen you can place for certain is I1. The queens resolve in the order I1 → C7 → D2 → A3 → J4 → E12 → F10 → H5 → K6 → G8 → B9 → L11. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (13 deductions)
  1. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I1.

  2. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C7.

  3. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D2.

  4. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A3.

  5. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at J4.

  6. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E12.

  7. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 2, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 2. Rules out B5, B11.

  8. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F10.

  9. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H5.

  10. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at K6.

  11. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G8.

  12. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B9.

  13. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at L11.

Answer: queens at I1, C7, D2, A3, J4, E12, F10, H5, K6, G8, B9, L11.