Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — January 7, 2026

Wednesday · 9×9 · Steady · Medium · 18 deductions

9 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 9x9 board split into 9 colour regions, needing 9 queens: one per row, one per column, one per region, none touching. Regions run from 2 to 24 cells.

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

How this board is solved

Solving this 9x9 board takes 18 deductions and needs the intermediate group-lock techniques, drawing on 4 distinct techniques. It opens on column 2, ruling cells out before any queen goes down. The queens resolve in the order C1 → H4 → B3 → G2 → D7 → E5 → A8 → F9 → I6. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (18 deductions)
  1. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 2, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 2. Rules out B1, B4, B5, B6, B7, B8, B9.

  2. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 7, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 7. Rules out G1, G4, G5, G6, G7, G8, G9.

  3. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 1, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 1. Rules out A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A9.

  4. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out C2, C3.

  5. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out F2, H2, F3, H3.

  6. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out D8.

  7. Two-region group lock intermediate

    Two-region group lock. 2 colours fit in only 2 columns, reserving them. This reasons over column 3 and column 4. Rules out C4, C5, C6, C9, D1, D4, D5, D6 and 1 more.

  8. Two-region group lock intermediate

    Two-region group lock. 2 colours fit in only 2 columns, reserving them. This reasons over column 9 and column 8. Rules out H1.

  9. Two-region group lock intermediate

    Two-region group lock. 2 colours fit in only 2 rows, reserving them. This reasons over row 2 and row 3. Rules out D2, E2, I2, D3, E3, I3.

  10. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C1.

  11. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H4.

  12. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B3.

  13. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G2.

  14. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D7.

  15. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E5.

  16. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A8.

  17. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F9.

  18. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I6.

Answer: queens at C1, H4, B3, G2, D7, E5, A8, F9, I6.