Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — April 23, 2026

Thursday · 10×10 · Tricky · Hard · 24 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 2 to 19 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 24 deductions and needs expert techniques, including testing a queen, drawing on 7 distinct techniques. It opens on column 3, ruling cells out before any queen goes down. The queens resolve in the order D10 → C8 → E5 → J9 → F1 → B3 → A7 → I6 → H2 → G4. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (24 deductions)
  1. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 3, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 3. Rules out C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7, C10.

  2. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 4, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 4. Rules out D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7, D8.

  3. 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, E3, E4, E6, E7.

  4. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out B8, B9, D9.

  5. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D10.

  6. Forced queen essential

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

  7. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E5.

  8. Forced queen essential

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

  9. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out H6, H7.

  10. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out A6.

  11. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out A3.

  12. Two-region group lock intermediate

    Two-region group lock. 2 colours fit in only 2 columns, reserving them. This reasons over column 2 and column 1. Rules out B1, B2, A1, A2.

  13. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 1, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 1. Rules out H1, I1.

  14. 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 H3, I3, I4.

  15. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out F2, G2.

  16. Two-region group lock intermediate

    Two-region group lock. 2 colours fit in only 2 rows, reserving them. This reasons over row 6 and row 7. Rules out G6, F7.

  17. Test a queen expert

    Test a queen. A queen here would leave another colour with nowhere to go, so it is out. Rules out G3.

  18. Test a queen expert

    Test a queen. Following the consequences of a queen here reaches a dead end, so it is out. Rules out G1.

  19. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F1.

  20. 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 B3. This reasons over row 3.

  21. Forced queen essential

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

  22. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I6.

  23. Forced queen essential

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

  24. Forced queen essential

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

Answer: queens at D10, C8, E5, J9, F1, B3, A7, I6, H2, G4.