8x8 Queens Puzzle #260
Difficulty: hard. Place 8 queens on this 8x8 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 #260
What follows is a complete solve of puzzle #260, worked the way a person works it rather than the way a computer does. It runs to 20 deductions — 8 queen placements and 12 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 proof by contradiction.
Techniques this board needs: last square in a region, region shadow, region confined to one line, pairing argument on rows, pairing argument on columns, proof by contradiction.
Show the full walkthrough (15 steps) — contains the solution
Step 1. Only row 2, column 8 is still open in amber, and since each colour must take a queen, that settles it. That clears row 2, column 8, the rest of the amber region and every square adjacent to it — diagonals included.
Step 2. The indigo region is down to one open square, at row 1, column 6. Every colour holds exactly one queen, so that square is forced. Cross out the whole of row 1 and column 6, the remaining indigo squares, and the ring of neighbours around row 1, column 6.
Step 3. The blue region has 3 squares left, spread across rows 3 and 4, columns 1 and 2. You do not need to know which of them takes the queen: every one of those options attacks the same 2 squares, so they can be crossed out now.
Step 4. Wherever mint ends up among its 4 squares, the same squares fall within reach of it — 1 square in total, impossible regardless of how the colour resolves.
Step 5. Slate cannot leave column 7 — every one of its open squares (3 open squares) sits there. That column belongs to slate, so every square in it owned by another colour is dead: 2 squares in all.
The board after step 5 — 2 of 8 queens placed. Step 6. All of the khaki region's remaining squares (2 open squares) lie in column 5. Its queen therefore has to be somewhere in that column, which means no other colour may use it: 5 squares come off.
Step 7. Wherever mint 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 8. Red is down to 2 candidates in rows 5 and 6, columns 3 and 4, and they overlap enough to cover 4 squares elsewhere. Cross those out without deciding anything about red itself.
Step 9. The mint region has 2 squares left, spread across rows 3 and 4, 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 10. Wherever blue ends up among its 2 squares, the same squares fall within reach of it — 1 square in total, impossible regardless of how the colour resolves.
The board after step 10 — 2 of 8 queens placed. Step 11. Blue and mint are now boxed into rows 3 and 4 and nothing else. That is 2 colours needing 2 rows, so they fill those rows between them — which locks every remaining colour out and removes 1 square at once.
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: 2 squares come off in one stroke.
Step 13. Mint and red 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 1 square at once.
Step 14. Now a short proof by contradiction. Suppose the blue queen went to row 4, column 2. Follow the forced moves that would create and column 3 runs out of open squares entirely — impossible. So that square is ruled out for good.
Step 15. From here the board cascades. Keep alternating the region sweep and the line sweep and 6 queens fall out in order without any new idea being needed: blue has one square left, so its queen takes row 3, column 1; mint has one square left, so its queen takes row 4, column 3; red has one square left, so its queen takes row 6, column 4; slate has one square left, so its queen takes row 5, column 7; khaki has one square left, so its queen takes row 8, column 5; pale yellow has one square left, so its queen takes row 7, column 2. 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 7, column 2.
The board after step 15 — 8 of 8 queens placed.
That completes the board: 8 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 8x8 Queens puzzle #260
This is puzzle number 260 in the 8x8 collection, rated hard. The grid holds 64 squares split between eight colored regions, and a finished board carries eight queens — one in every row, one in every column, one in every color, and never two of them touching, diagonals included.
Puzzle #260 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 #260 are: amber (1 square), indigo (4 squares), mint (8 squares), red (8 squares), khaki (8 squares), blue (10 squares), pale yellow (12 squares), slate (13 squares). An even split would hand every color 8 squares, so the amber region is running 7 squares under that average while the slate region is the roomiest area on the grid with 13 squares.
Every color takes one queen and one only, whatever its size — which is why the 12 square difference between amber and slate is worth noting before you touch the grid. The cramped colors resolve first and hand you information; the roomy ones absorb whatever is left over at the end.
Shape matters as much as size. The amber region is the most compact color here, filling 100% of the 1×1 box that encloses it, while red is the most scattered at 50% of its 4×4 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 #260, 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 1 square within rows 2–2, columns 8–8. It never leaves row 2, so its queen is locked to that row.
Indigo: 4 squares across rows 1–2, columns 6–8.
Mint covers 8 squares, spanning 4 rows and 3 columns (rows 1–4, columns 3–5).
Red occupies 8 squares within rows 5–8, columns 3–6.
Khaki: 8 squares across rows 7–8, columns 5–8.
Blue covers 10 squares, spanning 4 rows and 4 columns (rows 1–4, columns 1–4).
Pale yellow occupies 12 squares within rows 4–8, columns 1–3.
Slate: 13 squares across rows 2–6, columns 5–8.
Where to start on this board
The most constrained color is where a solve should begin, and on #260 that is amber with 1 square. It reaches from row 2 to row 2 and from column 8 to column 8 — 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 amber never leaves row 2, its queen must be in that row — and that instantly settles row 2 for everyone else. Sweep along it and X out every square that is not amber. 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. Indigo and khaki 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 #260
A quick way to find the next move is to count how many different colors touch each line. On this board, rows 1, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are the narrowest, touched by only 3 colors. Columns 1 and 2 are the tightest columns, with 2 colors.
The fewer colors a line touches, the sooner it surrenders its queen. A row meeting just 3 colors has to be claimed by one of them, which pushes every remaining region into the other 7 rows. Row 2, meeting 5 colors, is the opposite case — the busiest line on #260 and the last one you should expect to crack.
Working through the middle game
After the first few queens the puzzle becomes bookkeeping. A placed queen wipes its row, its column and every square it touches — as many as eight neighbours — so the space collapses quickly. Record those eliminations on the board instead of carrying them in your head, and the next forced move tends to announce itself.
Two checks, run alternately, will carry you through the 64 squares of this grid. First: has any of the eight regions been reduced to a single open square? Second: has any row or column? Either answer forces a queen. Players who stall on 8x8 boards almost always run one of those checks and forget the other.
A placement without a reason is a guess. Because this board has exactly one solution, a guess that happens to be wrong will not announce itself for several moves — and unwinding it is slower than simply finishing the eliminations first.
Why puzzle #260 is rated hard
The rating reflects how much the board concedes up front. Puzzle #260 has two regions confined to a single row or column, its smallest color holds 1 square, its tightest row meets just 3 colors, and the gap between its largest and smallest regions is 12 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 8x8
At 8x8 the whole grid stays within a single glance, which makes systematic scanning practical. Read the rows in order and count the colors in each — a row touched by two colors is far more constrained than one touched by five, and that is usually where the next forced move hides. The board is small enough that re-scanning from the top after each placement costs almost nothing.
There is one technique that repays study at every grid size. Two regions restricted to the same two rows must occupy one row apiece, which excludes all other regions from those rows entirely; the identical logic applies to columns and to larger matched sets. It converts slow boards into fast ones, and the likeliest place to find it on #260 is column 1.
Here is a shape check that gives nothing away: when #260 is solved, 4 queens sit on the outer edge of the grid and 4 sit inside it, and no queen lands in a corner. A work-in-progress board that clusters its queens in one quadrant while leaving others bare is usually carrying a mistake.
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 8x8 Queens puzzle #260?
Puzzle #260 is rated hard. Its smallest color region holds 1 square, its tightest row is touched by 3 colors, and two of its regions are confined to a single row or column, which gives you a forced move early.
Does 8x8 puzzle #260 have only one solution?
Yes. Every puzzle in the 8x8 collection, including #260, has been verified to have exactly one valid arrangement of eight queens, and it can always be reached by logic alone — no guessing or backtracking needed.
Where should I place my first queen on puzzle #260?
Start with the amber region — the most constrained color on this board, with 1 square spanning rows 2–2 and columns 8–8. Narrowing the smallest region first removes the most squares elsewhere on the grid.