Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — January 21, 2026

Wednesday · 9×9 · Steady · Hard · 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 20 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 expert techniques, including testing a queen, drawing on 6 distinct techniques. It opens on row 1, ruling cells out before any queen goes down. The queens resolve in the order C1 → D9 → F4 → G6 → B7 → I8 → H3 → A5 → E2. 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 row 1, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 1. Rules out A1, D1, E1, F1, G1, H1, I1.

  2. 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, B2, B3, B4, B5, B8, B9.

  3. Forced queen essential

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

  4. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D9.

  5. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 2, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 2. Rules out F2, G2, H2, I2.

  6. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

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

  7. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out A6, A7.

  8. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out G7.

  9. Split-line region lock intermediate

    Split-line region lock. 2 colours fit in only 2 columns, reserving them. This reasons over column 1 and column 5. Rules out E3, E4.

  10. Forced queen essential

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

  11. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out H7.

  12. Ruled out either way expert

    Ruled out either way. These cells are ruled out no matter where this colour's queen goes. Rules out H5, H6, G8.

  13. Last cell in a line essential

    Last cell in a line. Column 7 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G6. This reasons over column 7.

  14. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B7.

  15. Last cell in a line essential

    Last cell in a line. Row 8 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I8. This reasons over row 8.

  16. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H3.

  17. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A5.

  18. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E2.

Answer: queens at C1, D9, F4, G6, B7, I8, H3, A5, E2.