Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — May 27, 2026

Wednesday · 9×9 · Steady · Medium · 20 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 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 9x9 board takes 20 deductions and needs the intermediate group-lock techniques, drawing on 3 distinct techniques. It opens on row 1, ruling cells out before any queen goes down. The queens resolve in the order I8 → G7 → F1 → D2 → B3 → A5 → C6 → E9 → H4. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (20 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, H1, I1.

  2. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 1, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 1. Rules out A2, A3, A6, A7, A8, A9.

  3. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 7, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 7. Rules out B7, C7, D7, E7, F7, I7.

  4. 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.

  5. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out C4.

  6. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out F2, G2.

  7. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out B4, B5.

  8. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 3, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 3. Rules out D3, E3, F3, G3, H3, I3.

  9. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 2, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 2. Rules out H2, I2.

  10. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out B2, C2.

  11. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out G6, H6, H8.

  12. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I8.

  13. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G7.

  14. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F1.

  15. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D2.

  16. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B3.

  17. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A5.

  18. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C6.

  19. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E9.

  20. Forced queen essential

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

Answer: queens at I8, G7, F1, D2, B3, A5, C6, E9, H4.