Daily Queens Puzzle — February 21, 2026
13 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 13x13 board split into 13 colour regions, needing 13 queens: one per row, one per column, one per region, none touching. Regions run from 1 to 38 cells.
The daily board is the same for everyone and gets harder as the week goes on: Saturday is set to tough. Every daily puzzle has one solution and needs no guessing.
How this board is solved
Solving this 13x13 board takes 19 deductions and needs the intermediate group-lock techniques, drawing on 6 distinct techniques. The first queen you can place for certain is A1. The queens resolve in the order A1 → B4 → I11 → D3 → C7 → E13 → M12 → J5 → L6 → G10 → F8 → K9 → H2. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.
Techniques this board needs
- Single-cell region
- Region line lock
- Forced queen
- Line uses one region
- Last cell in a line
- Shared diagonal neighbour
Full solution, step by step (19 deductions)
- Single-cell region essential
Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A1.
- Single-cell region essential
Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B4.
- Region line lock essential
Region line lock. This colour must use column 10, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 10. Rules out J2, J3, J7, J8, J9, J10, J11, J12 and 1 more.
- Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I11.
- Region line lock essential
Region line lock. This colour must use row 7, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 7. Rules out E7, F7, G7, H7, K7, L7, M7.
- 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 2. Rules out E3, F3, G3, H3, K3, L3, M3, H5 and 2 more.
- Last cell in a line essential
Last cell in a line. Row 3 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D3. This reasons over row 3.
- Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C7.
- Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E13.
- Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at M12.
- Last cell in a line essential
Last cell in a line. Row 5 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at J5. This reasons over row 5.
- Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at L6.
- Region line lock essential
Region line lock. This colour must use column 7, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 7. Rules out G2, G8.
- Region line lock essential
Region line lock. This colour must use column 6, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 6. Rules out F2.
- Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate
Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out G9.
- Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G10.
- Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F8.
- Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at K9.
- Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H2.
Answer: queens at A1, B4, I11, D3, C7, E13, M12, J5, L6, G10, F8, K9, H2.