Queens Daily #17 — September 4, 2026
Daily #17 is a Friday board, which makes it a 9×9: a real mid-game in the weekly schedule. This is the exact board published on September 4, 2026 — it is regenerated from its date, so the regions and the single solution are identical to what everyone played that day. The 9 regions on this board range from 1 cell to 22; the largest is the one in the center (rows 1–8, columns 2–6). 3 regions start out inside a single row or column, which is where line ownership comes from. The opening gives you 2 forced crowns before the board asks for line ownership (a region that fits inside one row or column).
Where this board sits in the week
- Monday — 7×7, the gentlest board of the week.
- Tuesday & Wednesday — 8×8, the everyday size.
- Thursday & Friday — 9×9, a real mid-game. ← Daily #17
- Saturday — 10×10, the expert board.
- Sunday — 8×8, a recovery board.
Hints for Daily #17 (no full solution)
These hints tell you where to look on this particular board and why, in the order a careful solver would get there. They stop well short of the answer. Open only as many as you need.
Hint 1: Where to start
There is a one-cell region toward the top left, at row 1, column 3. A region must hold a crown, so that one is free — place it and cross out its row, its column and the ring of cells around it.
Hint 2: The next thing to notice (after about 2 moves)
The 4-cell region toward the top right (rows 2–4, columns 7–8) has all of its open cells in row 4. That row's crown therefore belongs to this region, and every other cell in row 4 can be crossed out — 5 cells in one go.
Hint 3: The step that unlocks the rest (after about 5 moves)
Now look at the 11-cell region on the right edge (rows 3–9, columns 7–9). After the crowns and ✕ marks so far, count its open cells: only one is left, so you can place that crown without any further reasoning.
Rows are counted from the top and columns from the left, starting at 1. Still stuck after that? The Hint button under the board checks your crowns and places the next correct one, and the strategy guide explains each technique named above.
Compared with the day before
Yesterday's board (Thursday, September 3) was also a 9×9, so any difference you feel comes from the regions, not the size. The logic is lighter, though: yesterday needed blocking cells (spots that would leave a neighbor with nowhere to go), and today gets by with line ownership (a region that fits inside one row or column). The opening is stingier: 2 forced crowns before the first real technique, against 4 yesterday.
More dailies
Archive replays are for fun and practice: they never affect your streak, which only today's board can extend. For boards nobody has seen before, there is unlimited mode.