12x12 Queens Puzzle #236
Difficulty: easy. Place 12 queens on this 12x12 board so that no two share a row, column or color region and none touch — including diagonally. This puzzle has exactly one solution, and it has been verified solvable by deduction alone: the complete 20-step reasoning is written out below.
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Step-by-step solution for puzzle #236
What follows is a complete solve of puzzle #236, worked the way a person works it rather than the way a computer does. It runs to 20 deductions — 12 queen placements and 8 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: last square in a region, region shadow, region confined to one line, pairing argument on rows, pairing argument on columns, last square in a row.
Show the full walkthrough (12 steps) — contains the solution
Step 1. Only row 1, column 11 is still open in indigo, and since each colour must take a queen, that settles it. That clears row 1, column 11, the rest of the indigo region and every square adjacent to it — diagonals included.
Step 2. The amber region is down to one open square, at row 2, column 9. Every colour holds exactly one queen, so that square is forced. Cross out the whole of row 2 and column 9, the remaining amber squares, and the ring of neighbours around row 2, column 9.
Step 3. The teal region has 3 squares left, spread across rows 10 and 11, columns 6 and 7. You do not need to know which of them takes the queen: every one of those options attacks the same 3 squares, so they can be crossed out now.
Step 4. All of the rose region's remaining squares (2 open squares) lie in row 12. Its queen therefore has to be somewhere on that row, which means no other colour may use it: 7 squares come off.
The board after step 4 — 2 of 12 queens placed. Step 5. Orange is down to 4 candidates in rows 9–11, columns 1 and 2, and they overlap enough to cover 1 square elsewhere. Cross those out without deciding anything about orange itself.
Step 6. Here is the pairing argument. The orange, sea green, and teal regions have no open squares outside rows 9–11 — 3 colours confined to 3 rows. Between them they must take one row each, in some order, so every other colour is shut out of all of them: 15 squares come off in one stroke.
Step 7. Wherever khaki ends up among its 4 squares, the same squares fall within reach of it — 2 squares in total, impossible regardless of how the colour resolves.
Step 8. Here is the pairing argument. The slate and orange regions have no open squares outside columns 1 and 2 — 2 colours confined to 2 columns. Between them they must take one column each, in some order, so every other colour is shut out of all of them: 4 squares come off in one stroke.
The board after step 8 — 2 of 12 queens placed. Step 9. Pale yellow and sea green are now boxed into columns 10 and 12 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 7 squares at once.
Step 10. The rose region is down to one open square, at row 12, column 8. Every colour holds exactly one queen, so that square is forced. Cross out the whole of row 12 and column 8, the remaining rose squares, and the ring of neighbours around row 12, column 8.
Step 11. Mint cannot leave column 7 — every one of its open squares (2 open squares) sits there. That column belongs to mint, so every square in it owned by another colour is dead: 6 squares in all.
Step 12. From here the board cascades. Keep alternating the region sweep and the line sweep and 9 queens fall out in order without any new idea being needed: teal has one square left, so its queen takes row 11, column 6; khaki has one square left, so its queen takes row 8, column 5; red has one square left, so its queen takes row 6, column 4; pale yellow has one square left, so its queen takes row 7, column 12; sea green has one square left, so its queen takes row 10, column 10; orange has one square left, so its queen takes row 9, column 1; row 5 is down to one square, putting a queen on row 5, column 2; blue has one square left, so its queen takes row 3, column 3; mint has one square left, so its queen takes row 4, column 7. 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 4, column 7.
The board after step 12 — 12 of 12 queens placed.
That completes the board: 12 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 12x12 Queens puzzle #236
This is puzzle number 236 in the 12x12 collection, rated easy. The grid holds 144 squares split between twelve colored regions, and a finished board carries twelve queens — one in every row, one in every column, one in every color, and never two of them touching, diagonals included.
Puzzle #236 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 #236 are: indigo (1 square), teal (3 squares), rose (5 squares), orange (6 squares), amber (8 squares), pale yellow (9 squares), slate (10 squares), red (14 squares), sea green (14 squares), khaki (17 squares), mint (27 squares), blue (30 squares). An even split would hand every color 12 squares, so the indigo region is running 11 squares under that average while the blue region is the roomiest area on the grid with 30 squares.
One queen per color, regardless of acreage: that is what turns this uneven split into a solving order. Indigo is working with 1 square while blue has 30 to spare, a gap of 29. Attack the cramped end and the roomy regions tend to resolve themselves.
Shape matters as much as size. The indigo region is the most compact color here, filling 100% of the 1×1 box that encloses it, while red is the most scattered at 39% of its 6×6 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
Below is every color on #236 with its exact reach, smallest region first. It is worth a slow read: the spans reveal which rows and columns several regions are fighting over.
Indigo occupies 1 square within rows 1–1, columns 11–11. It never leaves row 1, so its queen is locked to that row.
Teal: 3 squares across rows 10–11, columns 6–7.
Rose covers 5 squares, spanning 2 rows and 4 columns (rows 11–12, columns 7–10).
Orange occupies 6 squares within rows 9–12, columns 1–2.
Amber: 8 squares across rows 1–2, columns 8–12.
Pale yellow covers 9 squares, spanning 4 rows and 3 columns (rows 6–9, columns 10–12).
Slate occupies 10 squares within rows 4–10, columns 1–2.
Red: 14 squares across rows 5–10, columns 3–8.
Sea green covers 14 squares, spanning 5 rows and 4 columns (rows 8–12, columns 9–12).
Khaki occupies 17 squares within rows 7–12, columns 3–7.
Mint: 27 squares across rows 2–10, columns 7–12.
Blue covers 30 squares, spanning 7 rows and 7 columns (rows 1–7, columns 1–7).
Where to start on this board
The most constrained color is where a solve should begin, and on #236 that is indigo with 1 square. It reaches from row 1 to row 1 and from column 11 to column 11 — 1 row by 1 column. One queen has to live inside that footprint no matter what else happens, which makes those lines the busiest real estate on the board.
Because indigo never leaves row 1, its queen must be in that row — and that instantly settles row 1 for everyone else. Sweep along it and X out every square that is not indigo. Then look at which colors just lost ground: on a grid this size that one observation usually forces a second region within a move or two.
Work outward to the other flat regions next. Amber, teal and rose are no more than two rows tall, so their queens are 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 #236
A quick way to find the next move is to count how many different colors touch each line. On this board, row 3 is the narrowest, touched by only 2 colors. Columns 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are the tightest columns, with 3 colors.
Count colors per line and you have a ranking of where to look. The narrowest rows here see only 2 colors, so one of that handful must take the row and the rest are squeezed into the other 11 rows. Row 10 sits at the far end with 7 colors crossing it; it will almost certainly be among the last to settle.
Working through the middle game
Past the opening, treat this as an elimination exercise rather than a placement exercise. Each queen takes out a row, a column and its eight neighbours, and the value of a move is measured by how much it removes. Cross everything out as you go and let the board do the remembering.
Two checks, run alternately, will carry you through the 144 squares of this grid. First: has any of the twelve regions been reduced to a single open square? Second: has any row or column? Either answer forces a queen. Players who stall on 12x12 boards almost always run one of those checks and forget the other.
Resist the plausible-looking queen. On #236 every correct placement has a stated reason behind it, and any move you cannot justify is a guess wearing a disguise. Backing out of a wrong guess on a single-solution board takes far longer than finding the real deduction would have.
Why puzzle #236 is rated easy
What earns a board its rating is the shape of its opening. Here that opening offers two single-line regions, a 1-square smallest color, a tightest row touched by 2 colors, and a region-size spread of 29. Lopsided grids with flat regions fall quickly; balanced ones like this take more patience.
Nothing about the rating involves computation or chance. Each grid has a single solution reachable by pure logic; the rating simply measures how far ahead you have to reason. Easy boards resolve a queen every step or two, while hard ones can ask you to carry three unfinished lines of thought before any of them pays off.
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 12x12
At 12x12 you are managing 144 squares, and holding the whole board in your head will not work. Split it into quadrants and solve locally. Most useful deductions on a grid this large are regional — a color pinched between two placed queens, or a band of rows that two regions must share. Trust the marks on the board over your memory.
Whatever the grid size, the pairing rule is the technique to internalise. When a pair of regions is boxed into the same pair of rows, they split those rows between them and nobody else may enter — and the same holds for columns, or for any n regions confined to n lines. Look for an instance of it around row 3 on this board.
Use this as a rough check on your progress: the completed board has 4 queens around the border and 8 queens in the middle, and nothing in the corners. Solutions spread out; if yours is bunching up in one region of the grid, retrace a few moves.
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.
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Questions about this puzzle
How hard is 12x12 Queens puzzle #236?
Puzzle #236 is rated easy. Its smallest color region holds 1 square, its tightest row is touched by 2 colors, and two of its regions are confined to a single row or column, which gives you a forced move early.
Does 12x12 puzzle #236 have only one solution?
Yes. Every puzzle in the 12x12 collection, including #236, has been verified to have exactly one valid arrangement of twelve queens, and it can always be reached by logic alone — no guessing or backtracking needed.
Where should I place my first queen on puzzle #236?
Start with the indigo region — the most constrained color on this board, with 1 square spanning rows 1–1 and columns 11–11. Narrowing the smallest region first removes the most squares elsewhere on the grid.