Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — July 23, 2026

Thursday · 11×11 · Tricky · Medium · 17 deductions

11 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 11x11 board split into 11 colour regions, needing 11 queens: one per row, one per column, one per region, none touching. Regions run from 3 to 39 cells.

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

How this board is solved

Solving this 11x11 board takes 17 deductions and needs the intermediate group-lock techniques, drawing on 4 distinct techniques. It opens by ruling cells out rather than placing a queen. The queens resolve in the order J2 → A1 → E3 → H4 → D9 → C11 → F5 → G10 → K8 → B6 → I7. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (17 deductions)
  1. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out B1.

  2. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out E10.

  3. Two-region group lock intermediate

    Two-region group lock. 2 colours fit in only 2 columns, reserving them. This reasons over column 1 and column 2. Rules out A10, A11, B3, B4, B7, B10, B11.

  4. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out D10.

  5. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 9, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 9. Rules out A9, B9, C9, F9, G9, H9, I9, J9 and 1 more.

  6. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use column 11, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 11. Rules out K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, K6, K7, K11.

  7. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at J2.

  8. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A1.

  9. Forced queen essential

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

  10. Forced queen essential

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

  11. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D9.

  12. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C11.

  13. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F5.

  14. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G10.

  15. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at K8.

  16. Forced queen essential

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

  17. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I7.

Answer: queens at J2, A1, E3, H4, D9, C11, F5, G10, K8, B6, I7.