Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — January 22, 2026

Thursday · 11×11 · Tricky · Medium · 17 deductions

11 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 11x11 board split into 11 colour regions, needing 11 queens: one per row, one per column, one per region, none touching. Regions run from 2 to 27 cells.

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

How this board is solved

Solving this 11x11 board takes 17 deductions and needs the intermediate group-lock techniques, drawing on 6 distinct techniques. It opens on row 4, ruling cells out before any queen goes down. The queens resolve in the order J1 → I6 → B5 → D9 → E4 → K10 → A8 → C2 → H3 → F7 → G11. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (17 deductions)
  1. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 4, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 4. Rules out A4, B4, C4, F4, G4, H4, I4, J4 and 1 more.

  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, B7, B8, B9, B10, B11.

  3. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 11, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 11. Rules out K1, K2, K3, K5, K6, K7, K8, K11.

  4. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at J1.

  5. Forced queen essential

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

  6. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B5.

  7. Line uses one region intermediate

    Line uses one region. 1 rows can only be filled by 1 colours, using them up. This reasons over row 11. Rules out G7, F8, G8, H8, D10, F10, G10, H10.

  8. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out D3, E3.

  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 3. Rules out A11, C3, C8, C9, C10, C11.

  10. Forced queen essential

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

  11. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E4.

  12. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at K10.

  13. 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 A8. This reasons over row 8.

  14. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C2.

  15. Forced queen essential

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

  16. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F7.

  17. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G11.

Answer: queens at J1, I6, B5, D9, E4, K10, A8, C2, H3, F7, G11.