Answering my own question, I believe the reason it did not "work" is because you have to fill in the row and column with cards added to the board. There can't be any original icons showing. This is not clear in the quick rules -- I'm going to edit the wiki.
You must fill up a row or column with polyominoes (even if there are blanks on them). Sometimes you’ll have to cover up icons that your grid started with so that you’ll be able to…