Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — May 8, 2026

Friday · 12×12 · Hard · Medium · 17 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 1 to 32 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 17 deductions and needs the intermediate group-lock techniques, drawing on 5 distinct techniques. The first queen you can place for certain is B2. The queens resolve in the order B2 → L5 → D11 → A4 → K1 → F12 → C7 → J10 → I6 → E8 → G3 → H9. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (17 deductions)
  1. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B2.

  2. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at L5.

  3. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D11.

  4. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A4.

  5. Forced queen essential

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

  6. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F12.

  7. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 3, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 3. Rules out H3, I3, J3.

  8. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 6, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 6. Rules out C6, E6, J6.

  9. Forced queen essential

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

  10. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 9, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 9. Rules out E9, I9, J9.

  11. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 8, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 8. Rules out I8, J8.

  12. Last cell in a line essential

    Last cell in a line. Column 10 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at J10. This reasons over column 10.

  13. Last cell in a line essential

    Last cell in a line. Column 9 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I6. This reasons over column 9.

  14. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out G8, H8.

  15. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E8.

  16. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G3.

  17. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H9.

Answer: queens at B2, L5, D11, A4, K1, F12, C7, J10, I6, E8, G3, H9.