Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — May 1, 2026

Friday · 11×11 · Hard · Hard · 24 deductions

11 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 11x11 board split into 11 colour regions, needing 11 queens: one per row, one per column, one per region, none touching. Regions run from 2 to 34 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 11x11 board takes 24 deductions and needs expert techniques, including testing a queen, drawing on 4 distinct techniques. It opens on row 1, ruling cells out before any queen goes down. The queens resolve in the order D11 → E3 → B10 → A8 → K7 → J1 → H2 → G9 → F6 → C4 → I5. 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 row 1, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 1. Rules out A1, B1, C1, D1, E1, F1, G1, H1.

  2. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 3, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 3. Rules out A3, B3, C3, F3, G3, H3, I3, J3 and 1 more.

  3. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 2, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 2. Rules out A2, B2, C2, D2, F2, G2.

  4. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 11, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 11. Rules out A11, B11, E11, F11, G11, H11, I11, J11 and 1 more.

  5. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 10, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 10. Rules out A10, D10, E10, F10, G10, H10, I10, J10 and 1 more.

  6. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out J2.

  7. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out E2, D4, E4.

  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. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out B9, C9, C11.

  10. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D11.

  11. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E3.

  12. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B10.

  13. Forced queen essential

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

  14. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 9, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 9. Rules out F9, I9, J9, K9.

  15. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at K7.

  16. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out I1.

  17. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at J1.

  18. Forced queen essential

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

  19. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G9.

  20. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 9, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 9. Rules out I6.

  21. Ruled out either way expert

    Ruled out either way. These cells are ruled out no matter where this colour's queen goes. Rules out C5.

  22. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F6.

  23. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C4.

  24. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I5.

Answer: queens at D11, E3, B10, A8, K7, J1, H2, G9, F6, C4, I5.