Daily Queens Puzzle — October 31, 2026

Saturday · 13×13 · Tough · Medium · 20 deductions

13 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 13x13 board split into 13 colour regions, needing 13 queens: one per row, one per column, one per region, none touching. Regions run from 1 to 41 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 13x13 board takes 20 deductions and needs the intermediate group-lock techniques, drawing on 6 distinct techniques. The first queen you can place for certain is H9. The queens resolve in the order H9 → G13 → L12 → K2 → J4 → I1 → A3 → D5 → C8 → B6 → E7 → M10 → F11. Every step follows by logic, so you never have to guess.

Techniques this board needs

Full solution, step by step (20 deductions)

Single-cell region essential
Single-cell region. This colour covers only one cell, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at H9.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at G13.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at L12.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at K2.
Region line lock essential
Region line lock. This colour must use column 10, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 10. Rules out J6, J7, J8, J10, J11.
Region line lock essential
Region line lock. This colour must use column 13, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 13. Rules out M1, M3.
Region line lock essential
Region line lock. This colour must use column 9, so nothing else can. This reasons over column 9. Rules out I6, I7, I11.
Region line lock essential
Region line lock. This colour must use row 5, so nothing else can. This reasons over row 5. Rules out A5, B5, E5, F5, I5, J5, M5.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at J4.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at I1.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at A3.
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 5. Rules out C7, D6, D7, D8, F6, F7, F8.
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 6. Rules out B11, C10, C11, D10, D11.
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 D5. This reasons over column 4.
Last cell in a line essential
Last cell in a line. Column 3 has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at C8. This reasons over column 3.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at B6.
Shared diagonal neighbour intermediate
Shared diagonal neighbour. Every remaining option for this colour touches these cells, so they are out. Rules out E10, E11.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at E7.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at M10.
Forced queen essential
Forced queen. This colour has one legal cell left, so its queen goes there. Place a queen at F11.

Answer: queens at H9, G13, L12, K2, J4, I1, A3, D5, C8, B6, E7, M10, F11.