Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — January 19, 2026

Monday · 7×7 · Gentle · Medium · 14 deductions

7 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 7x7 board split into 7 colour regions, needing 7 queens: one per row, one per column, one per region, none touching. Regions run from 2 to 16 cells.

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

How this board is solved

Solving this 7x7 board takes 14 deductions and needs the intermediate group-lock techniques, drawing on 6 distinct techniques. It opens on row 1, ruling cells out before any queen goes down. The queens resolve in the order C5 → E1 → D3 → B7 → G6 → F4 → A2. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (14 deductions)
  1. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 1, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 1. Rules out A1, B1, C1, D1.

  2. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 3, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 3. Rules out C2, C3, C4, C7.

  3. Line uses one region intermediate

    Line uses one region. 1 columns can only be filled by 1 colours, using them up. This reasons over column 4. Rules out B2, E2, E3, E4, E7.

  4. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

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

  5. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out B5, D5, B6, D6.

  6. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out F6.

  7. Two-region group lock intermediate

    Two-region group lock. 2 colours fit in only 2 rows, reserving them. This reasons over row 6 and row 7. Rules out C6, E6, D7.

  8. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C5.

  9. Last cell in a line essential

    Last cell in a line. Column 5 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E1. This reasons over column 5.

  10. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D3.

  11. Last cell in a line essential

    Last cell in a line. Column 2 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B7. This reasons over column 2.

  12. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G6.

  13. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F4.

  14. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A2.

Answer: queens at C5, E1, D3, B7, G6, F4, A2.