Daily Queens Puzzle — August 26, 2026

Wednesday · 10×10 · Steady · Medium · 20 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 23 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 20 deductions and needs the intermediate group-lock techniques, drawing on 5 distinct techniques. It opens on row 8, ruling cells out before any queen goes down. The queens resolve in the order J8 → H7 → I10 → D6 → G5 → C4 → E3 → F1 → A2 → B9. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (20 deductions)

Region line lock essential
Region line lock. This colour must use row 8, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 8. Rules out A8, B8, C8, D8, E8, F8, G8, H8.
Region line lock essential
Region line lock. This colour must use row 7, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 7. Rules out A7, B7, C7, D7, E7, F7, G7.
Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate
Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out B2.
Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate
Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out I6, I8.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at J8.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H7.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I10.
Region line lock essential
Region line lock. This colour must use column 7, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 7. Rules out G1, G2, G9.
Region line lock essential
Region line lock. This colour must use column 6, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 6. Rules out F3, F4, F5, F6, F9.
Region line lock essential
Region line lock. This colour must use column 5, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 5. Rules out E1, E4, E5, E6, E9.
Region line lock essential
Region line lock. This colour must use row 9, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 9. Rules out C9.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D6.
Line uses one region intermediate
Line uses one region. 1 columns can only be filled by 1 colours, using them up. This reasons over column 3. Rules out A4, A5, B3, B4, B5.
Last cell in a line essential
Last cell in a line. Row 5 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G5. This reasons over row 5.
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 C4. This reasons over row 4.
Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate
Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out E2.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E3.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F1.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A2.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B9.

Answer: queens at J8, H7, I10, D6, G5, C4, E3, F1, A2, B9.