Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — May 22, 2026

Friday · 12×12 · Hard · Easy · 16 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 28 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 16 deductions and needs only the basic deductions, drawing on 4 distinct techniques. The first queen you can place for certain is D5. The queens resolve in the order D5 → H7 → L12 → K3 → I4 → G1 → C2 → J8 → F9 → E11 → A10 → B6. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (16 deductions)
  1. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D5.

  2. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H7.

  3. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at L12.

  4. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at K3.

  5. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I4.

  6. 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, E1, F1.

  7. 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, E2.

  8. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 10, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 10. Rules out J1, J9, J10, J11.

  9. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G1.

  10. Forced queen essential

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

  11. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 6, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 6. Rules out F6, J6.

  12. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at J8.

  13. Forced queen essential

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

  14. Last cell in a line essential

    Last cell in a line. Column 5 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E11. This reasons over column 5.

  15. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A10.

  16. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B6.

Answer: queens at D5, H7, L12, K3, I4, G1, C2, J8, F9, E11, A10, B6.