Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — January 23, 2026

Friday · 11×11 · Hard · Hard · 15 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 1 to 34 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 11x11 board takes 15 deductions and needs expert techniques, including testing a queen, drawing on 6 distinct techniques. The first queen you can place for certain is D2. The queens resolve in the order D2 → I4 → A7 → E11 → J10 → K1 → B5 → G3 → C9 → F6 → H8. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (15 deductions)
  1. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D2.

  2. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I4.

  3. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A7.

  4. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E11.

  5. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at J10.

  6. Region line lock essential

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

  7. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 3, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 3. Rules out B3, K3.

  8. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at K1.

  9. Forced queen essential

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

  10. 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 8. Rules out F9, G6, G8, G9.

  11. 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 G3. This reasons over column 7.

  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 F8.

  13. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C9.

  14. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F6.

  15. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H8.

Answer: queens at D2, I4, A7, E11, J10, K1, B5, G3, C9, F6, H8.