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Archive · Queens #1

Queens #1 (September 26, 2026): solution and step-by-step

The 10×10 Hard puzzle from Saturday, September 26, 2026. Play it first; the answer is folded below. Replays don't affect your streak.

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Queens #1 was the 10×10 hard board of Saturday, September 26, 2026. Our deduction solver, the same one behind the hint button, finishes it in 34 steps without guessing: 30 follow straight from the rules (a queen's neighbours, a line that already has its queen, a line with one free cell left), 2 come from confinement (a region squeezed into one row or column, or several regions sharing the same rows), and 2 need a “what if” check: imagine a queen in a cell and watch some row, column or region run out of room. The regions range from 2 to 19 cells; the smallest is sky, and small regions are where the board opens up.

Queens #1 in numbers

Board10×10, Hard
Regions10, from 2 to 19 cells
Deduction steps34
Rule steps (neighbours, satisfied lines, last cell)30
Confinement steps2
“What if” contradictions2
Solver difficulty score18
How to start Queens #1: the first 12 deductions

Each step is a deduction a person can make, in the order our solver found them. Rows and columns are counted from the top-left corner.

  1. Cross out 8 cells. Every free cell of the sky region is in column 10, so that region's queen must be there — the rest of column 10 is crossed out.

  2. Queen at row 10, column 9. The teal region has only one free cell left — that must be its queen.

  3. Cross out 3 cells. Queens can't touch, not even diagonally — the cells around this queen are crossed out.

  4. Cross out 7 cells. Row 10 already has its queen — the rest of it is crossed out.

  5. Cross out 8 cells. Column 9 already has its queen — the rest of it is crossed out.

  6. Queen at row 9, column 2. The peach region has only one free cell left — that must be its queen.

  7. Cross out 5 cells. Queens can't touch, not even diagonally — the cells around this queen are crossed out.

  8. Cross out 4 cells. Row 9 already has its queen — the rest of it is crossed out.

  9. Cross out 7 cells. Column 2 already has its queen — the rest of it is crossed out.

  10. Cross out 6 cells. Every free cell of the gold region is in column 8, so that region's queen must be there — the rest of column 8 is crossed out.

  11. Queen at row 7, column 7. The orchid region has only one free cell left — that must be its queen.

  12. Cross out 5 cells. Queens can't touch, not even diagonally — the cells around this queen are crossed out.

22 more steps follow the same pattern until the 10 queens are placed.

Queens #1 solution

Queens by row: row 1: column 1 (lavender); row 2: column 3 (coral); row 3: column 6 (mint); row 4: column 8 (gold); row 5: column 10 (sky); row 6: column 4 (lime); row 7: column 7 (orchid); row 8: column 5 (rose); row 9: column 2 (peach); row 10: column 9 (teal).

Back to the Queens archive, today's puzzle, or the rules and deductions used above.

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