Your first scan
A corner or center cell is not automatically a good crown placement. Start with a deduction: inspect small regions, then rows and columns, looking for a unique candidate or a line lock.
- Find regions with one candidate. Place only a forced crown.
- After a placement, mark the blocked row, column, region and nearby diagonals.
- Scan rows and columns for a single candidate.
- If no singleton appears, look for region-to-line or line-to-region locks, then a small reserved group.
- Repeat after each new deduction. A scan that finds nothing is a reason to widen the search, not to place a random crown.
Work at your own pace before testing speed. Unlimited lets you replay a range of boards; Survival keeps its wall clock running while you read hints, so it is better used after you understand the techniques.
A 30-second opening routine
- Find the smallest region. One or two legal cells? Note them.
- Look for regions lying entirely in one row or column and clear the rest of that line.
- Scan the edges: rows and columns along the border often have few candidates.
- Place only forced crowns, then repeat the scan around each new crown.
Speed in Queens comes from this kind of fixed routine, not from intuition. Players who solve boards in seconds run the same checks every time and let the forced moves chain together.
Try one move
Tap a still-open cell this deduction rules out. This is a real position from 5×5 puzzle #5-standard-001.
👑 placed crown · × already ruled out · · still a candidate. Row and column numbers start at 1.
Worked example: a 6×6 Queens puzzle solved step by step
Here is 6×6 puzzle #2 solved from an empty board in 8 deductions, exactly as our hint engine finds them. Letters name the regions; purple outlines show where to look, red stripes mark eliminated cells, and green marks a placed crown.
Step 1: A set of regions reserves these columns
Regions C, F can only fit on columns 1, 2 — exactly as many regions as columns. Those columns are fully reserved, so every other candidate on them is ruled out.
Step 2: A set of regions reserves these rows
Regions E, F can only fit on rows 5, 6 — exactly as many regions as rows. Those rows are fully reserved, so every other candidate on them is ruled out.
Step 3: Only one safe spot
Every region needs exactly one crown, and region D has just one legal cell left — R4C3. The crown must go there.
Step 4: Only one safe spot in the row
Row 5 has exactly one cell where a crown can legally sit — R5C5. That row's crown is settled.
Step 5: Only one safe spot
Every region needs exactly one crown, and region B has just one legal cell left — R2C4. The crown must go there.
Step 6: Only one safe spot
Every region needs exactly one crown, and region C has just one legal cell left — R3C1. The crown must go there.
Step 7: Only one safe spot
Every region needs exactly one crown, and region A has just one legal cell left — R1C6. The crown must go there.
Step 8: Only one safe spot
Every region needs exactly one crown, and region F has just one legal cell left — R6C2. The crown must go there.
Notice the pattern: the board opens with line locks, not forced crowns, and each elimination sets up the next forced move. Try the same board yourself on 6×6 puzzle #2, or paint any board into the Queens solver to get a walkthrough like this one.
Questions about this technique
How do people solve Queens so fast?
They use a fixed scanning order — smallest regions, single-candidate rows and columns, then line locks — and recognize common patterns from many boards. Practicing in timed modes builds that recognition.