Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — April 11, 2026

Saturday · 12×12 · Tough · Medium · 21 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 1 to 27 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 21 deductions and needs the intermediate group-lock techniques, drawing on 5 distinct techniques. The first queen you can place for certain is J2. The queens resolve in the order J2 → L1 → F3 → C6 → E8 → A7 → K9 → G5 → H12 → I10 → B11 → D4. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (21 deductions)
  1. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at J2.

  2. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at L1.

  3. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F3.

  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 K10, K11, K12.

  5. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 3, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 3. Rules out C4, C7, C8, C9, C10, C11, C12.

  6. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out C5.

  7. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C6.

  8. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 4, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 4. Rules out A4, H4, I4, K4.

  9. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out E9.

  10. Split-line region lock intermediate

    Split-line region lock. 3 colours fit in only 3 columns, reserving them. This reasons over column 2 and column 4 and column 1. Rules out D8, D9, D11, D12.

  11. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E8.

  12. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 5, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 5. Rules out A5, H5, K5.

  13. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A7.

  14. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at K9.

  15. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 9, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 9. Rules out I5, I12.

  16. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G5.

  17. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out H10, H11.

  18. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H12.

  19. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I10.

  20. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B11.

  21. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D4.

Answer: queens at J2, L1, F3, C6, E8, A7, K9, G5, H12, I10, B11, D4.