Queens Grid

Daily Queens Puzzle — September 12, 2026

Saturday · 12×12 · Tough · Medium · 19 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 31 cells.

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

How this board is solved

Solving this 12x12 board takes 19 deductions and needs the intermediate group-lock techniques, drawing on 7 distinct techniques. The first queen you can place for certain is I3. The queens resolve in the order I3 → A4 → H5 → B2 → G1 → L12 → D10 → F11 → E7 → J6 → C8 → K9. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (19 deductions)
  1. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I3.

  2. Single-cell region essential

    Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A4.

  3. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H5.

  4. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 1, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 1. Rules out B1, C1, D1, E1, F1, L1.

  5. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B2.

  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, K6, K7, K10, K11, K12.

  7. Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate

    Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out J8, L8, J9, L9.

  8. Split-line region lock intermediate

    Split-line region lock. 2 colours fit in only 2 columns, reserving them. This reasons over column 10 and column 12. Rules out J1, J12.

  9. Forced queen essential

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

  10. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 11, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 11. Rules out C11, D11, J11, L11.

  11. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at L12.

  12. Region line lock essential

    Region line lock. This colour must use row 10, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 10. Rules out C10, F10, J10.

  13. 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 D6, D7, D8, D9, E6, E8, E9.

  14. Last cell in a line essential

    Last cell in a line. Column 4 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at D10. This reasons over column 4.

  15. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F11.

  16. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E7.

  17. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at J6.

  18. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C8.

  19. Forced queen essential

    Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at K9.

Answer: queens at I3, A4, H5, B2, G1, L12, D10, F11, E7, J6, C8, K9.