Crowns

about this tool

How to play

The grid is split into coloured regions — as many as there are rows. Place a crown so that:

• every row has exactly one,
• every column has exactly one,
• every region has exactly one,
• and no two crowns touch, not even corner to corner.

Tap a cell once to cross it out — a note to yourself that no crown can go there — twice for a crown, and a third time to empty it again. With a keyboard, the arrow keys move round the grid, Enter or Space works like a tap, C places or lifts a crown, X crosses a cell out and Backspace clears it.

Every region has a thick line round it as well as its own colour, so the grid reads just as well without the colours.

Ways in

A region of a single cell must hold its crown. A region that lies entirely in one row or column claims that row or column: no other region can put a crown there. Two regions squeezed into the same two rows claim both rows between them. And once a crown is down, cross out its row, its column, its region and the eight cells around it — Shade cells a crown rules out does that for you, if you would rather spend your time on the reasoning.

The puzzle of the day and practice

Everyone gets the same 7 × 7 puzzle of the day, numbered from the first. It is made from the date, so it is the same on every device with nothing stored or fetched. Practice makes a fresh grid whenever you like — 5 × 5 is gentle, 8 × 8 takes some thought — and Copy link hands a friend that exact grid.

Each grid is made in your browser: a random arrangement of crowns that follows the rules, regions grown outwards from each crown, and then a solver that keeps the grid only if it has exactly one solution, so there is always one answer to find. Progress on each puzzle is kept while the page is open, so you can leave the puzzle of the day for a practice grid and come back to it — its clock stops while you are away and starts again at your next move.

Hints, undo and the clock

hint crosses out a crown that is in the wrong place, or, if every crown so far is right, puts down one more; the count of hints goes into the result you share, along with a link to play. Two crowns that break a rule are marked with a ! as soon as they do. undo steps back one change at a time, and clear empties the grid — undo brings it back — without resetting the clock, which starts at your first move.

For other puzzles with one answer, try Sudoku or Minesweeper.

questions

How do you play Crowns?

The grid is split into coloured regions, one for each row. Place a crown so that every row, every column and every region has exactly one, and no two crowns touch — not side by side, not above and below, not even corner to corner. Tap a cell once to cross it out as a reminder, twice for a crown, and a third time to empty it.

Is there a puzzle of the day?

Yes. Everyone gets the same 7 × 7 puzzle each day, numbered from the first, made from the date itself — so it is the same on every device without anything being stored or fetched. When you solve it, copy the result to share your time.

Can I play more than one a day?

Practice makes a new grid whenever you like, from an easy 5 × 5 to a hard 8 × 8. Copy link hands a friend that exact grid, since every grid is made from a short code in the link.

Does every puzzle have one answer?

Yes. Every grid is checked by a solver before you see it and kept only if it has exactly one solution, so there is one answer to find.

What do the hint and the shading do?

Hint points out a crown in the wrong place by crossing it out, or, if every crown so far is right, places one more. Shade cells a crown rules out marks every cell that shares a row, column or region with a crown, or touches one, so you can see what is left. Two crowns that break a rule are marked with a ! straight away.

Is this like Star Battle?

It is a close cousin of the long-standing Star Battle puzzles: one mark per row, column and region, none touching. Here there is one crown per region rather than one or two stars, and every grid is made fresh in your browser.