Teaching LinkedIn Queens #823: start with region scans on this 9×9 board. 9 regions, sizes 3–23. Walk students through 9 placements ending at R1C1, R2C6, R3C3, R4C9, R5C2, R6C7, R7C5, R8C8, R9C4.
Board spotlight: Several color regions span only a few cells — scan those regions first because they often force a queen into a single row or column. Region sizes range from 3 to 23 cells — smaller regions often pin a queen to a single row intersection.
Lesson step 1: show why R1C1 is forced. Row 1, column 1 is the forced queen once region 1, row, column, and touch rules are applied together. Ask: which rows/columns/regions are now closed?
Lesson step 2: show why R2C6 is forced. Row 2, column 6 is the forced queen once region 3, row, column, and touch rules are applied together. Ask: which rows/columns/regions are now closed?
Lesson step 3: show why R3C3 is forced. Row 3, column 3 is the forced queen once region 5, row, column, and touch rules are applied together. Ask: which rows/columns/regions are now closed?
Lesson step 4: show why R4C9 is forced. Region 4 only touches row 4 once on this board, so its queen must land at column 9. Ask: which rows/columns/regions are now closed?
Lesson step 5: show why R5C2 is forced. Column 2 is the only column still available for a queen in row 5. Ask: which rows/columns/regions are now closed?
Lesson step 6: show why R6C7 is forced. Row 6, column 7 is the forced queen once region 6, row, column, and touch rules are applied together. Ask: which rows/columns/regions are now closed?
Lesson step 7: show why R7C5 is forced. Region 7 only touches row 7 once on this board, so its queen must land at column 5. Ask: which rows/columns/regions are now closed?
Lesson step 8: show why R8C8 is forced. After eliminations, row 8 has one legal square left — column 8. Ask: which rows/columns/regions are now closed?
Lesson step 9: show why R9C4 is forced. After eliminations, row 9 has one legal square left — column 4. Ask: which rows/columns/regions are now closed?
Recap: 9 queens, 9 regions, one solution path. Replay using region-first scanning.