Expert Star Battle answer — June 16, 2026

Full written solution

Every deduction from the walkthrough above, in order. Each technique is explained in the Star Battle strategy guide.

1. Starting position — the grid is split into regions (bold outlines). Each row, column, and region needs exactly two stars, and no two stars may touch.
2. Blocking rule: a star here would touch every other open cell in its region, leaving no room for the region's second star (row 8, column 3).
3. Clump analysis (Region 1): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 8, column 8).
4. Clump analysis (Region 4): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 1, column 3).
5. Clump analysis (Region 9): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 2, column 8).
6. Triple analysis (Column 1 + Column 2 + Region 2): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 6, column 1).
7. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - stars at R8C6 and R9C5 would touch (row 1, column 4).
8. Clump analysis (Region 4): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 3, column 4).
9. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - stars at R6C5 and R7C4 would touch (row 1, column 2).
10. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Row 5 would only have room for 1 of the 2 stars it still needs (row 8, column 6).
11. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Row 2 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 6, column 6).
12. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Column 9 would end up with more than 2 stars (row 6, column 9).
13. Triple analysis (Region 7 + Row 6 + Region 8): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 5, column 4).
14. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Row 6 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 4, column 8).
15. Quad analysis (Row 6 + Column 6 + Region 6 + Region 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 5, column 3).
16. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Region 3 would only have room for 1 of the 2 stars it still needs (row 2, column 9).
17. Joint analysis (Region 4 + Row 2): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 3, column 2).
18. Triple analysis (Region 7 + Column 2 + Column 1): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 8, column 1).
19. Quad analysis (Row 8 + Region 3 + Column 6 + Row 7): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 7, column 8).
20. Quad analysis (Row 8 + Column 8 + Region 1 + Row 7): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 2, column 7).
21. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - stars at R5C2 and R6C3 would touch (row 4, column 6).
22. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - stars at R3C5 and R4C5 would touch (row 4, column 7).
23. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Row 3 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 5, column 2).
24. Quad analysis (Region 7 + Region 8 + Column 4 + Row 9): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 9, column 5).
25. Quad analysis (Region 3 + Column 6 + Row 5 + Row 6): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 7, column 6).
26. Generalized counting (columns 7-9): region star limits exclude these cells (row 3, column 7).
27. Squeeze (rows 2-3): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 4, column 9).
28. Squeeze (rows 4-5): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 6, column 8).
29. Joint analysis (Region 5 + Region 3): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 4, column 5).
30. Clump analysis (Row 4): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 3, column 1).
31. Clump analysis (Row 3): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 2, column 5).
32. Clump analysis (Row 2): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 1, column 1).
33. Squeeze (rows 5-6): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 7, column 3).
34. Blocking rule: a star here would touch every other open cell in its region, leaving no room for the region's second star (row 9, column 3).
35. Clump analysis (Region 7): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 9, column 1).
36. Composite container (columns 1-3): Regions 2 and 8 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 2 of the band's 6 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 2, column 2).
37. Row completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 2, column 1).
38. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 3).
39. Joint analysis (Region 3 + Row 6): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 8, column 7).
40. Squeeze (rows 7-8): each clump in the band must supply its full share of stars (row 7, column 7).
41. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 7).
42. Clump analysis (Row 6): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 7, column 4).
43. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 9, column 6).
44. Squeeze (rows 7-8): each clump in the band must supply its full share of stars (row 8, column 4).
45. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 4).
46. Squeeze (columns 4-5): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 1, column 6).
47. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 5).
48. Composite container (rows 1-5): Regions 2, 6 and 9 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 3 of the band's 10 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 5, column 7).
49. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 3, column 8).
50. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 3, column 9).
51. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 7).
52. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 8).
53. Row 1 complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 1, column 9).
54. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 9).
55. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 5, column 8).
56. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 6).
57. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 5).
58. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 3, column 5).
59. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 3, column 6).
60. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 4).
61. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 3).
62. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 2).
63. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 1).
64. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 4, column 3).
65. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 4, column 2).
66. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 4, column 1).
67. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 9).
68. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 8, column 9).
69. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 8, column 2).
70. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 2).
71. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 8).
72. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 9).
73. Solved! Every row, column, and region has its two stars, none touching.