Queens Daily #18 — September 5, 2026
Daily #18 is a Saturday board, which makes it a 10×10: the expert board in the weekly schedule. This is the exact board published on September 5, 2026 — it is regenerated from its date, so the regions and the single solution are identical to what everyone played that day. The 10 regions on this board range from 1 cell to 36; the largest is the one that sprawls across the board (rows 1–7, columns 1–10). 2 regions start out inside a single row or column, which is where line ownership comes from. The opening gives you 1 forced crown before the board asks for a two-line counting argument.
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.
- Saturday — 10×10, the expert board. ← Daily #18
- Sunday — 8×8, a recovery board.
Hints for Daily #18 (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 in the top-right corner, at row 1, column 10. 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 1 move)
The 2-cell region on the right side (rows 5–6, column 7) has all of its open cells in column 7. That column's crown therefore belongs to this region, and every other cell in column 7 can be crossed out — 7 cells in one go.
Hint 3: The step that unlocks the rest (after about 5 moves)
Take the 5-cell region toward the top left (rows 2–4, columns 1–2) and the 4-cell region toward the top right (rows 2–3, columns 7–9) together. Their open cells fit entirely inside rows 2 and 3 — 2 regions in 2 rows — so those rows are fully spoken for. Cross out every other region's cells there (8 of them).
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 (Friday, September 4) was a 9×9, so today is a step up in size: one more crown to find and 19 more cells to keep track of. It also asks for more: yesterday's hardest step was line ownership (a region that fits inside one row or column), while today needs a two-line counting argument. The opening is stingier: 1 forced crown before the first real technique, against 2 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.