Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — April 24, 2026

Friday · 12×12 · Hard · Medium · 18 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 2 to 33 cells.

The daily board is the same for everyone and gets harder as the week goes on: Friday is set to hard. Every daily puzzle has one solution and needs no guessing.

How this board is solved

Solving this 12x12 board takes 18 deductions and needs the intermediate group-lock techniques, drawing on 6 distinct techniques. It opens on column 4, ruling cells out before any queen goes down. The queens resolve in the order D2 → B3 → J9 → I6 → G5 → E4 → A7 → C12 → H11 → L10 → K1 → F8. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (18 deductions)
  1. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 4, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 4. Rules out D3, D4, D5, D6, D7, D8, D9, D10 and 2 more.

  2. 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, F1, G1, H1 and 2 more.

  3. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D2.

  4. Forced queen essential

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

  5. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 9, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 9. Rules out A9, C9, E9, F9, G9, H9, I9, L9.

  6. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out J8, K8, J10, K10.

  7. Two-region group lock intermediate

    Two-region group lock. 2 colours fit in only 2 columns, reserving them. This reasons over column 11 and column 12. Rules out K4, K5, K6, K7, K9, L4, L5, L6 and 2 more.

  8. Forced queen essential

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

  9. Forced queen essential

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

  10. Forced queen essential

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

  11. Last cell in a line essential

    Last cell in a line. Row 4 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E4. This reasons over row 4.

  12. Split-line region lock intermediate

    Split-line region lock. 2 colours fit in only 2 columns, reserving them. This reasons over column 1 and column 3. Rules out C7, C10, C11.

  13. Last cell in a line essential

    Last cell in a line. Row 7 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A7. This reasons over row 7.

  14. Forced queen essential

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

  15. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H11.

  16. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at L10.

  17. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at K1.

  18. 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 D2, B3, J9, I6, G5, E4, A7, C12, H11, L10, K1, F8.