Daily Queens Puzzle — July 21, 2026

Tuesday · 9×9 · Easy · Medium · 15 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 26 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 15 deductions and needs the intermediate group-lock techniques, drawing on 6 distinct techniques. The first queen you can place for certain is I1. The queens resolve in the order I1 → B9 → C3 → H4 → G8 → F2 → D7 → E5 → A6. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (15 deductions)

Single-cell region essential
Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I1.
Single-cell region essential
Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B9.
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, A4, A7.
Region line lock essential
Region line lock. This colour must use column 3, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 3. Rules out C2, C5, C6, C7.
Region line lock essential
Region line lock. This colour must use row 8, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 8. Rules out D8, E8, F8.
Region line lock essential
Region line lock. This colour must use column 4, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 4. Rules out D2, D3, D4, D5.
Line uses one region intermediate
Line uses one region. 1 rows can only be filled by 1 colours, using them up. This reasons over row 2. Rules out E3, F3, G3, H3, E4, F4, G4, F5 and 1 more.
Last cell in a line essential
Last cell in a line. Row 3 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C3. This reasons over row 3.
Last cell in a line essential
Last cell in a line. Row 4 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H4. This reasons over row 4.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G8.
Last cell in a line essential
Last cell in a line. Column 6 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F2. This reasons over column 6.
Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate
Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out D6.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D7.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E5.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A6.

Answer: queens at I1, B9, C3, H4, G8, F2, D7, E5, A6.