Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — May 12, 2026

Tuesday · 9×9 · Easy · Medium · 14 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 1 to 21 cells.

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

How this board is solved

Solving this 9x9 board takes 14 deductions and needs the intermediate group-lock techniques, drawing on 4 distinct techniques. The first queen you can place for certain is I1. The queens resolve in the order I1 → B5 → G9 → A7 → E3 → C2 → H4 → D8 → F6. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (14 deductions)
  1. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I1.

  2. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B5.

  3. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G9.

  4. 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, E2, F2.

  5. 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, C3, F3, H3.

  6. Forced queen essential

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

  7. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 4, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 4. Rules out D4.

  8. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 8, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 8. Rules out E8.

  9. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out D3.

  10. Forced queen essential

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

  11. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C2.

  12. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H4.

  13. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D8.

  14. Forced queen essential

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

Answer: queens at I1, B5, G9, A7, E3, C2, H4, D8, F6.