Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — April 18, 2026

Saturday · 13×13 · Tough · Medium · 16 deductions

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 30 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 16 deductions and needs the intermediate group-lock techniques, drawing on 5 distinct techniques. The first queen you can place for certain is I5. The queens resolve in the order I5 → J10 → A13 → C12 → L9 → K1 → H2 → E11 → D6 → G4 → B3 → M7 → F8. 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 I5.

  2. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at J10.

  3. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A13.

  4. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C12.

  5. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 11, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 11. Rules out F11, G11, L11, M11.

  6. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at L9.

  7. Line uses one region intermediate

    Line uses one region. 1 columns can only be filled by 1 colours, using them up. This reasons over column 13. Rules out K2, K3, K4, K6, K7.

  8. Last cell in a line essential

    Last cell in a line. Column 11 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at K1. This reasons over column 11.

  9. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H2.

  10. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E11.

  11. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 2, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 2. Rules out B7, B8.

  12. Forced queen essential

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

  13. Forced queen essential

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

  14. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B3.

  15. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at M7.

  16. Forced queen essential

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

Answer: queens at I5, J10, A13, C12, L9, K1, H2, E11, D6, G4, B3, M7, F8.