Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — May 20, 2026

Wednesday · 10×10 · Steady · Medium · 17 deductions

10 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 10x10 board split into 10 colour regions, needing 10 queens: one per row, one per column, one per region, none touching. Regions run from 2 to 22 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 10x10 board takes 17 deductions and needs the intermediate group-lock techniques, drawing on 3 distinct techniques. It opens on column 1, ruling cells out before any queen goes down. The queens resolve in the order B10 → H8 → I3 → A2 → C4 → G5 → E6 → D1 → F9 → J7. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (17 deductions)
  1. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 1, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 1. Rules out A1, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, A9, A10.

  2. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 8, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 8. Rules out B8, C8, D8, E8, F8, G8, J8.

  3. Forced queen essential

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

  4. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 1, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 1. Rules out F1, G1, H1, I1, J1.

  5. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out D2.

  6. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out I2.

  7. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out I8.

  8. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H8.

  9. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 10, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 10. Rules out J2, J3, J4, J5, J6.

  10. Forced queen essential

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

  11. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A2.

  12. Forced queen essential

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

  13. Forced queen essential

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

  14. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E6.

  15. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D1.

  16. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F9.

  17. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at J7.

Answer: queens at B10, H8, I3, A2, C4, G5, E6, D1, F9, J7.