Daily Queens Game — Friday, October 16, 2026
Friday, October 16, 2026 · 10x10 grid. A brand new puzzle, the same for everyone, resetting at midnight UTC.
About the daily Queens game
A new Queens puzzle every day at midnight UTC — free online, no sign-up. Replay unlimited past challenges from the daily archive or browse 1,800+ Queens puzzles.
How to play Queens
- The board is an N×N grid divided into N colored regions.
- Place exactly one queen (♛) in each row, each column, and each colored region.
- No two queens may touch each other — not horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
- Tap once to mark a square with an X (where a queen can't go), tap again to place a queen, and once more to clear it.
- There is always exactly one valid solution. Use logic, never guessing, to find it.
Step-by-step solution for puzzle #170
What follows is a complete solve of puzzle #170, worked the way a person works it rather than the way a computer does. It runs to 20 deductions — 10 queen placements and 10 elimination steps that narrow the board between them. Each step names the rule that forces it, so nothing below is a guess, and the hardest idea required is the pairing argument on columns.
Techniques this board needs: region shadow, region confined to one line, last square in a region, pairing argument on rows, pairing argument on columns, last square in a column.
Show the full walkthrough (14 steps) — contains the solution
Step 1. Wherever amber ends up among its 3 squares, the same squares fall within reach of it — 1 square in total, impossible regardless of how the colour resolves.
Step 2. All of the pale yellow region's remaining squares (3 open squares) lie in column 1. Its queen therefore has to be somewhere in that column, which means no other colour may use it: 8 squares come off.
Step 3. Only row 1, column 2 is still open in indigo, and since each colour must take a queen, that settles it. Everything else in row 1, in column 2, in indigo and in the ring around that square is now dead.
Step 4. The amber region is down to one open square, at row 2, column 10. Every colour holds exactly one queen, so that square is forced. Row 2 and column 10 are now spoken for, along with the squares touching that queen.
Step 5. Blue is down to 4 candidates in rows 3 and 4, columns 3–5, and they overlap enough to cover 1 square elsewhere. Cross those out without deciding anything about blue itself.
The board after step 5 — 2 of 10 queens placed. Step 6. The khaki region has 4 squares left, spread across rows 8–10, columns 3 and 4. You do not need to know which of them takes the queen: every one of those options attacks the same 1 square, so they can be crossed out now.
Step 7. Wherever orange ends up among its 6 squares, the same squares fall within reach of it — 1 square in total, impossible regardless of how the colour resolves.
Step 8. Sea green is down to 4 candidates in rows 8–10, columns 5 and 6, and they overlap enough to cover 1 square elsewhere. Cross those out without deciding anything about sea green itself.
Step 9. Khaki, orange, and sea green are now boxed into rows 8–10 and nothing else. That is 3 colours needing 3 rows, so they fill those rows between them — which locks every remaining colour out and removes 7 squares at once.
The board after step 9 — 2 of 10 queens placed. Step 10. The pale yellow region is down to one open square, at row 7, column 1. Every colour holds exactly one queen, so that square is forced. Cross out the whole of row 7 and column 1, the remaining pale yellow squares, and the ring of neighbours around row 7, column 1.
Step 11. Red is down to 4 candidates in rows 5 and 6, columns 6, 7, and 9, and they overlap enough to cover 2 squares elsewhere. Cross those out without deciding anything about red itself.
Step 12. Here is the pairing argument. The slate and red regions have no open squares outside rows 5 and 6 — 2 colours confined to 2 rows. Between them they must take one row each, in some order, so every other colour is shut out of all of them: 4 squares come off in one stroke.
Step 13. Slate and khaki are now boxed into columns 3 and 4 and nothing else. That is 2 colours needing 2 columns, so they fill those columns between them — which locks every remaining colour out and removes 3 squares at once.
Step 14. From here the board cascades. Keep alternating the region sweep and the line sweep and 7 queens fall out in order without any new idea being needed: blue has one square left, so its queen takes row 3, column 5; sea green has one square left, so its queen takes row 10, column 6; orange has one square left, so its queen takes row 9, column 9; khaki has one square left, so its queen takes row 8, column 4; column 8 is down to one square, putting a queen on row 4, column 8; red has one square left, so its queen takes row 6, column 7; slate has one square left, so its queen takes row 5, column 3. After each one, clear that row, that column, the rest of the colour and the ring of neighbours before looking for the next. The last of them seats the queen on row 5, column 3.
The board after step 14 — 10 of 10 queens placed.
That completes the board: 10 queens seated, one in every row, one in every column and one in every colour, with no two of them touching. Notice that nothing in the sequence above required a guess — each placement followed from an elimination already on the grid, which is what “single solution, solvable by logic” actually means in practice.
About 10x10 Queens puzzle #170
Board #170 of the 10x10 bank carries a easy rating. Its 100 squares are shared between ten colored regions, and the solution places ten queens: one per row, one per column, one per region, none of them side by side or corner to corner.
Puzzle #170 has been checked to admit exactly one arrangement of queens, and every step toward it is deducible from what is already on the board. There is no point at which you are expected to pick a square and hope. The only thing that differs between boards is how quickly the first certainty surfaces, and that depends entirely on the shapes the colors happen to take here.
How the colors divide this board
From smallest to largest, the regions on puzzle #170 are: amber (3 squares), pale yellow (3 squares), sea green (4 squares), indigo (5 squares), orange (7 squares), khaki (8 squares), blue (11 squares), slate (16 squares), red (18 squares), mint (25 squares). An even split would hand every color 10 squares, so the amber region is running 7 squares under that average while the mint region is the roomiest area on the grid with 25 squares.
Why does the split matter? Because a region's square count has no bearing on how many queens it gets — the answer is always one. So amber, with 3 squares, is under far more pressure than mint with 25. A 22-square gap like this one rewards players who start where the choices are fewest.
Shape matters as much as size. The pale yellow region is the most compact color here, filling 100% of the 3×1 box that encloses it, while slate is the most scattered at 53% of its 6×5 box. Compact regions are easy to eliminate around; straggling ones reach into more rows and columns and tend to stay unresolved until late.
Region by region
Here is the full footprint of every color on puzzle #170, smallest first. Reading these spans before you place anything is the quickest way to see which parts of the grid are genuinely contested.
Amber occupies 3 squares within rows 1–2, columns 9–10.
Pale yellow: 3 squares across rows 7–9, columns 1–1. It sits wholly inside column 1, so its queen must be in that column.
Sea green covers 4 squares, spanning 3 rows and 2 columns (rows 8–10, columns 5–6).
Indigo occupies 5 squares within rows 1–4, columns 1–2.
Orange: 7 squares across rows 9–10, columns 6–10.
Khaki covers 8 squares, spanning 3 rows and 4 columns (rows 8–10, columns 1–4).
Blue occupies 11 squares within rows 1–4, columns 2–5.
Slate: 16 squares across rows 4–9, columns 1–5.
Red covers 18 squares, spanning 5 rows and 5 columns (rows 5–9, columns 6–10).
Mint occupies 25 squares within rows 1–6, columns 5–10.
Where to start on this board
The most constrained color is where a solve should begin, and on #170 that is amber with 3 squares. It reaches from row 1 to row 2 and from column 9 to column 10 — 2 rows by 2 columns. One queen has to live inside that footprint no matter what else happens, which makes those lines the busiest real estate on the board.
With 2 rows and 2 columns of room, amber needs narrowing rather than solving outright. Test its 3 squares against the neighbours: a candidate that would strand another color is dead, and eliminating even two of them tightens the whole corner of the board around rows 1–2.
Work outward to the other flat regions next. Orange is no more than two rows tall, so its queen is confined to a narrow band. When two flat regions overlap the same pair of rows, those rows are spoken for and every other color is locked out of both — the single most productive pattern in the game, and it is live on this board.
The tightest lines on puzzle #170
A quick way to find the next move is to count how many different colors touch each line. On this board, rows 3, 5, 6, 7 and 10 are the narrowest, touched by only 3 colors. Columns 3, 4, 7 and 8 are the tightest columns, with 3 colors.
A line with few colors is a line close to resolving. Where only 3 colors appear, one of them owns the row outright and the others must fit into the remaining 9 rows. Row 9 is the crowded extreme at 6 colors — worth revisiting later, not now.
Working through the middle game
Once two or three queens are down, the board changes character. Each queen removes an entire row, an entire column and the ring of up to eight squares around it, so the grid shrinks faster than most people expect. The habit that pays here is marking rather than remembering: after every placement, cross out the full row, the full column and all eight neighbours before hunting for the next move.
With ten queens to seat and ten regions competing over 100 squares, keep two questions in rotation. Does any region now have exactly one open square left? That queen is forced. Does any row or column now have exactly one open square left? That queen is forced too. Alternating between the region view and the row-and-column view is what keeps a solve moving, and it is the clearest difference between players who finish 10x10 boards quickly and players who stall halfway.
Say the reason out loud: "this region has one square left", "this column has one square left". If no such sentence is available, the eliminating is not finished. One more pass of X marks is almost always quicker than committing to a placement you cannot defend.
Why puzzle #170 is rated easy
The rating reflects how much the board concedes up front. Puzzle #170 has one region confined to a single row or column, its smallest color holds 3 squares, its tightest row meets just 3 colors, and the gap between its largest and smallest regions is 22 squares. Flat, lopsided boards open quickly; even, sprawling ones make you earn the first placement.
Difficulty in Queens is never arithmetic and never luck. Every board has one solution and none require guessing. What varies is the length of the chain you must follow before the next queen becomes certain — one or two steps on an easy board, five or six on a hard one, sometimes with several partial eliminations held in play at once.
When a board plays tougher than its label, look for a missed mark before you look for a clever deduction. Walk back over every queen you have placed and confirm the full row, the full column and all eight surrounding squares are crossed out. The diagonal neighbours are the ones players skip, and a single skipped diagonal will hide the next forced move indefinitely.
Techniques that work well at 10x10
At 10x10 a full re-scan after every move starts to get slow, so work locally instead. Once a queen goes down, check only the regions, rows and columns that placement actually touched — that is where new information appeared. Fall back to a complete sweep only when the local pass turns up nothing, and your solve times will drop noticeably.
Learn the pairing argument and you will use it on every board, this one included. If two colors can only sit inside the same two rows, between them they consume both rows and every other color is shut out. It generalises to any matching count — three colors across three rows, four across four. On #170, start hunting for it near row 3.
A non-spoiling distribution check: solved, #170 carries 4 queens on the perimeter against 6 queens inside, with the corners empty. Because no two queens may touch, real solutions always look fairly evenly spread — a lopsided board in progress is a warning sign.
Frequently asked questions
How hard is 10x10 Queens puzzle #170?
Puzzle #170 is rated easy. Its smallest color region holds 3 squares, its tightest row is touched by 3 colors, and one of its regions is confined to a single row or column, which gives you a forced move early.
Does 10x10 puzzle #170 have only one solution?
Yes. Every puzzle in the 10x10 collection, including #170, has been verified to have exactly one valid arrangement of ten queens, and it can always be reached by logic alone — no guessing or backtracking needed.
Where should I place my first queen on puzzle #170?
Start with the amber region — the most constrained color on this board, with 3 squares spanning rows 1–2 and columns 9–10. Narrowing the smallest region first removes the most squares elsewhere on the grid.
What makes the daily Queens game special
The daily Queens game challenge is one carefully chosen puzzle that is the same for every player around the world. A new board goes live every day at midnight UTC and stays as the day's official puzzle until the next reset. Because everyone is solving the identical grid, the daily becomes a shared experience: you can compare how you approached it with friends, talk through the tricky deduction in the middle, or simply enjoy the quiet satisfaction of knowing you cracked the same board as solvers everywhere else.
Like every puzzle on the site, the daily Queens game online is completely free, needs no sign-up and runs instantly in your browser so you can play Queens online in seconds. It is designed to be a perfect bite-sized brain exercise — long enough to feel earned, short enough to fit into a coffee break. Solving it keeps your daily streak alive, and the streak is a gentle nudge to come back tomorrow and keep the logical part of your mind warmed up.
How today's puzzle is chosen
Each day's board is drawn from our larger library of verified puzzles, so the daily inherits the same cast-iron guarantee as the rest of the site: it has exactly one solution and that solution is always reachable by logic alone, never by guessing. The grid size and the specific puzzle rotate from day to day, which keeps the routine varied — some days you will face a brisk smaller board, other days a meatier grid that rewards a slower, more methodical solve.
Because the selection is deterministic and tied to the date, the puzzle you see today is exactly the puzzle every other player sees today, and it is exactly the puzzle that will sit at this date forever in the archive. There is no randomness between players and no way to refresh into an easier board — the challenge is fixed, fair and shared, which is precisely what makes comparing solves with other people meaningful.
Replay the full daily archive
Missing a day is never a problem here. Every past daily challenge is preserved in the archive, so you can step back to any previous date and play that day's board exactly as it appeared. This is something the original LinkedIn-style daily does not let you do, and it turns the daily from a one-shot novelty into a deep, replayable collection you can binge whenever you like.
The archive is also a great way to practice. If today's grid size suits you, browse backward to find more boards of the same shape, or work through the history in order to feel how the puzzles vary over time. You can move directly between consecutive days using the previous and next links, jump to any date from the archive list, or branch out into the full puzzle library whenever you want even more to solve.
A simple daily solving routine
A reliable routine makes the daily quick and stress-free. Begin by reading the colors: find the smallest or most awkwardly shaped region, because a cramped region usually forces its queen into one of very few squares. Then sweep the rows and columns for any line that already has only a single open cell, since a queen must go there. Place those forced queens first and let them do the heavy lifting.
After every placement, immediately mark X's on the squares that queen rules out — the rest of its row, column and region, plus every neighboring square it touches. These marks keep the board honest and constantly expose the next forced move. When easy moves run out, hunt for pairs of regions confined to the same rows or columns; identifying those locked lines is what breaks open the harder daily boards. Work in calm passes, trust the logic, and the final queen will click into place.
More ways to keep playing
If one puzzle a day is not enough, the Queens game online keeps you covered. Dive into the archive to replay history, or open the full library of more than 1,800 puzzles across six grid sizes, from quick 7x7 boards to demanding 12x12 grids. Every one of them follows the same friendly promise: one queen per row, one per column, one per color region, none of them touching, and a single solution you can always reach by reasoning rather than luck.
However you choose to play, the daily challenge is a great anchor for the habit. Solve it each day to protect your streak, use the archive to catch up on anything you missed, and lean on the wider library whenever you want to push your skills further. It is a free, friendly, guess-free logic puzzle that is always ready when you want to think.