Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — April 9, 2026

Thursday · 10×10 · Tricky · Hard · 16 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 1 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 10x10 board takes 16 deductions and needs expert techniques, including testing a queen, drawing on 7 distinct techniques. The first queen you can place for certain is B3. The queens resolve in the order B3 → C7 → G4 → F8 → H6 → E10 → J9 → A5 → D1 → I2. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (16 deductions)
  1. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B3.

  2. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C7.

  3. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 4, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 4. Rules out D4, E4, F4, I4, J4.

  4. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 8, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 8. Rules out H1, H2, H4, H5, H9, H10.

  5. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G4.

  6. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 5, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 5. Rules out E1, E2, E5, E6, E8.

  7. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out D9, F9, D10, F10.

  8. Two-region group lock intermediate

    Two-region group lock. 2 colours fit in only 2 columns, reserving them. This reasons over column 9 and column 10. Rules out I8, I9.

  9. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F8.

  10. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H6.

  11. Forced queen essential

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

  12. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at J9.

  13. Ruled out either way expert

    Ruled out either way. These cells are ruled out no matter where this colour's queen goes. Rules out D5.

  14. 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 A5. This reasons over row 5.

  15. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D1.

  16. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I2.

Answer: queens at B3, C7, G4, F8, H6, E10, J9, A5, D1, I2.