Queens #17 (October 12, 2026): solution and step-by-step

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 3 cells. Every free cell of the lime region is in row 7, so that region's queen must be there — the rest of row 7 is crossed out.

2. Cross out row 5, column 7. This cell touches every free cell of the coral region — a queen here would leave the coral region with no queen, so it's crossed out.

3. Cross out 6 cells. The coral region, the sky region and the orchid region all fit inside rows 4, 5, 6, so those 3 rows' queens are theirs — every other cell in rows 4, 5, 6 is crossed out.

4. Queen at row 3, column 2. The mint region has only one free cell left — that must be its queen.

5. Cross out 6 cells. Queens can't touch, not even diagonally — the cells around this queen are crossed out.

6. Cross out 4 cells. Row 3 already has its queen — the rest of it is crossed out.

7. Cross out 3 cells. Column 2 already has its queen — the rest of it is crossed out.

8. Queen at row 1, column 1. The gold region has only one free cell left — that must be its queen.

9. Cross out 5 cells. Row 1 already has its queen — the rest of it is crossed out.

10. Cross out 2 cells. Column 1 already has its queen — the rest of it is crossed out.

11. Cross out 2 cells. Every free cell of row 4 is in the coral region, so that region's queen must be in row 4 — its other cells are crossed out.

12. Cross out row 6, column 4. This cell touches every free cell of row 5 — a queen here would leave row 5 with no queen, so it's crossed out.

11 more steps follow the same pattern until the 7 queens are placed.

Queens by row: row 1: column 1 (gold); row 2: column 5 (lavender); row 3: column 2 (mint); row 4: column 6 (coral); row 5: column 3 (sky); row 6: column 7 (orchid); row 7: column 4 (lime).