Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — February 12, 2026

Thursday · 10×10 · Tricky · Hard · 22 deductions

10 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 10x10 board split into 10 colour regions, needing 10 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: Thursday is set to tricky. Every daily puzzle has one solution and needs no guessing.

How this board is solved

Solving this 10x10 board takes 22 deductions and needs expert techniques, including testing a queen, drawing on 7 distinct techniques. It opens on row 4, ruling cells out before any queen goes down. The queens resolve in the order E10 → G9 → J3 → F1 → A2 → B4 → C6 → D8 → H7 → I5. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (22 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 C4, D4, E4, F4, G4, H4, I4, J4.

  2. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 10, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 10. Rules out A10, B10, C10, D10, G10, H10, I10, J10.

  3. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 9, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 9. Rules out A9, B9, C9, D9, E9, H9, I9, J9.

  4. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out A3, B3, A5, B5.

  5. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out F8, G8, F10.

  6. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E10.

  7. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G9.

  8. Two-region group lock intermediate

    Two-region group lock. 2 colours fit in only 2 rows, reserving them. This reasons over row 1 and row 2. Rules out H1, I1, J1, B2, F2, H2, I2, J2.

  9. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at J3.

  10. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out H6.

  11. Lines use the same regions intermediate

    Lines use the same regions. 2 columns can only be filled by 2 colours, using them up. This reasons over column 8 and column 9. Rules out F5, F6, F7.

  12. Last cell in a line essential

    Last cell in a line. Column 6 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F1. This reasons over column 6.

  13. Forced queen essential

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

  14. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B4.

  15. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

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

  16. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out I7.

  17. Ruled out either way expert

    Ruled out either way. These cells are ruled out no matter where this colour's queen goes. Rules out D7.

  18. Ruled out either way expert

    Ruled out either way. These cells are ruled out no matter where this colour's queen goes. Rules out I6.

  19. Last cell in a line essential

    Last cell in a line. Row 6 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C6. This reasons over row 6.

  20. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D8.

  21. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H7.

  22. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I5.

Answer: queens at E10, G9, J3, F1, A2, B4, C6, D8, H7, I5.