Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — April 29, 2026

Wednesday · 9×9 · Steady · Hard · 23 deductions

9 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 9x9 board split into 9 colour regions, needing 9 queens: one per row, one per column, one per region, none touching. Regions run from 2 to 21 cells.

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

How this board is solved

Solving this 9x9 board takes 23 deductions and needs expert techniques, including testing a queen, drawing on 7 distinct techniques. It opens on row 4, ruling cells out before any queen goes down. The queens resolve in the order D9 → C7 → E5 → G4 → I3 → A8 → B2 → H6 → F1. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (23 deductions)
  1. 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, B4, C4, D4, E4, H4, I4.

  2. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 6, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 6. Rules out A6, B6, C6, D6, E6, F6, I6.

  3. 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, B9, C9.

  4. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out H2.

  5. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out F3, G3, F5, G5.

  6. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out H5, G7, H7.

  7. Lines use the same regions intermediate

    Lines use the same regions. 3 columns can only be filled by 3 colours, using them up. This reasons over column 1 and column 2 and column 3. Rules out D1, D2, D5, D7, D8, E1, E8, F8 and 3 more.

  8. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

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

  9. Lines use the same regions intermediate

    Lines use the same regions. 2 columns can only be filled by 2 colours, using them up. This reasons over column 4 and column 5. Rules out F2, F7, F9, G9, H9, I5, I7, I9.

  10. Ruled out either way expert

    Ruled out either way. These cells are ruled out no matter where this colour's queen goes. Rules out I2.

  11. 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.

  12. Ruled out either way expert

    Ruled out either way. These cells are ruled out no matter where this colour's queen goes. Rules out A5, B7.

  13. Region line lock essential

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

  14. Two-region group lock intermediate

    Two-region group lock. 2 colours fit in only 2 rows, reserving them. This reasons over row 2 and row 3. Rules out E2, D3, E3.

  15. Last cell in a line essential

    Last cell in a line. Column 4 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D9. This reasons over column 4.

  16. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C7.

  17. Forced queen essential

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

  18. Forced queen essential

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

  19. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I3.

  20. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A8.

  21. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B2.

  22. Forced queen essential

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

  23. Forced queen essential

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

Answer: queens at D9, C7, E5, G4, I3, A8, B2, H6, F1.