Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — February 28, 2026

Saturday · 12×12 · Tough · Medium · 23 deductions

12 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 12x12 board split into 12 colour regions, needing 12 queens: one per row, one per column, one per region, none touching. Regions run from 3 to 22 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 12x12 board takes 23 deductions and needs the intermediate group-lock techniques, drawing on 6 distinct techniques. It opens on column 12, ruling cells out before any queen goes down. The queens resolve in the order I3 → K7 → J5 → L4 → D6 → F9 → C8 → H10 → G1 → A11 → E12 → B2. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (23 deductions)
  1. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 12, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 12. Rules out L1, L2, L3, L7, L8, L9, L10, L11 and 1 more.

  2. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out K5.

  3. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 10, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 10. Rules out J1, J2, J3, J4, J7, J8, J9, J10 and 2 more.

  4. 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, K4, K8, K9, K11, K12.

  5. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out I5, I6, K6.

  6. Multi-region group lock intermediate

    Multi-region group lock. 3 colours fit in only 3 columns, reserving them. This reasons over column 7 and column 8 and column 9. Rules out G2, G4, G6, G7, G8, G9, G11, G12 and 4 more.

  7. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 6, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 6. Rules out F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F8, F11, F12.

  8. Multi-region group lock intermediate

    Multi-region group lock. 3 colours fit in only 3 rows, reserving them. This reasons over row 4 and row 5 and row 6. Rules out C4, D4, E4, H4, I4, G5, H5, A6 and 5 more.

  9. Lines use the same regions intermediate

    Lines use the same regions. 2 rows can only be filled by 2 colours, using them up. This reasons over row 1 and row 2. Rules out A3, B3, C3, D3, E3, G3, H3.

  10. 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 I3. This reasons over row 3.

  11. 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, B1, C1, D1, E1.

  12. 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, E10, F10, K10.

  13. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at K7.

  14. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at J5.

  15. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at L4.

  16. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D6.

  17. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F9.

  18. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C8.

  19. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H10.

  20. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G1.

  21. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A11.

  22. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E12.

  23. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B2.

Answer: queens at I3, K7, J5, L4, D6, F9, C8, H10, G1, A11, E12, B2.