Expert Star Battle answer — June 26, 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 6, column 6).
3. Clump analysis (Region 1): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 9, column 9).
4. Clump analysis (Region 3): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 2, column 2).
5. Clump analysis (Region 5): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 5, column 5).
6. Clump analysis (Region 10): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 7, column 9).
7. Generalized counting (columns 9-10): region star limits exclude these cells (row 3, column 9).
8. Composite container (columns 1-8): Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 2 of the band's 16 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 1, column 7).
9. Crowding (Column 9): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 9, column 10).
10. Clump analysis (Region 1): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 10, column 1).
11. Composite container (columns 1-8): Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 2 of the band's 16 stars - impossible without stars on these cells (row 1, column 8).
12. Clump analysis (Region 3): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 1, column 1).
13. Lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - rows 2-4 must hold 6 stars but the regions there could only supply 5 (row 3, column 2).
14. Clump analysis (Region 3): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 2, column 4).
15. Composite container (rows 2-9): Regions 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 1 of the band's 16 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 3, column 4).
16. Lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - row 7 can only hold 2 stars but the regions there would be forced to place 3 (row 7, column 4).
17. Joint analysis (Row 9 + Region 2): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 8, column 2).
18. Triple analysis (Region 3 + Region 8 + Column 4): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 2, column 5).
19. Composite container (columns 1-5): Regions 2, 3, 6 and 8 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 2 of the band's 10 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 8, column 4).
20. Triple analysis (Region 5 + Column 6 + Region 4): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 6, column 8).
21. Triple analysis (Region 5 + Column 8 + Region 4): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 7, column 8).
22. Triple analysis (Region 8 + Region 4 + Row 4): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 5, column 2).
23. Triple analysis (Region 5 + Region 8 + Row 4): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 4, column 6).
24. Joint analysis (Region 5 + Column 6): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 8, column 7).
25. Quad analysis (Row 1 + Row 2 + Column 4 + Column 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 1, column 2).
26. Composite container (columns 1-4): Regions 2 and 6 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 4 of the band's 8 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 4, column 3).
27. Clump analysis (Region 2): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 6, column 2).
28. Crowding (Column 2): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 8, column 1).
29. Generalized counting (rows 8-9): region star limits exclude these cells (row 7, column 5).
30. Squeeze (columns 4-5): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 1, column 3).
31. Composite container (rows 8-9): Region 9 is confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 2 of the band's 4 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 7, column 10).
32. Composite container (columns 2-5): Regions 3 and 8 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 4 of the band's 8 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 5, column 4).
33. Lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - column 8 can only hold 2 stars but the regions there would be forced to place 3 (row 9, column 6).
34. Joint analysis (Region 5 + Column 6): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 5, column 7).
35. Triple analysis (Region 2 + Column 4 + Column 3): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 9, column 5).
36. Composite container (columns 1-5): Regions 2, 3, 6 and 8 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 2 of the band's 10 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 7, column 6).
37. Generalized counting (columns 7-8): region star limits exclude these cells (row 8, column 8).
38. Composite container (columns 1-6): Regions 2, 3, 6, 8 and 9 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 2 of the band's 12 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 3, column 5).
39. Quad analysis (Column 2 + Region 9 + Row 7 + Region 2): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 3, column 1).
40. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 2, column 3).
41. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 4).
42. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 5).
43. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 2, column 6).
44. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 4, column 2).
45. Blocking rule: a star here would touch every other open cell in its region, leaving no room for the region's second star (row 4, column 7).
46. Clump analysis (Column 7): each clump must supply its full share of stars (row 10, column 7).
47. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 10, column 8).
48. Clump analysis (Column 8): each clump must supply its full share of stars (row 3, column 6).
49. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 4, column 5).
50. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 4, column 4).
51. Row 4 complete: Mark 2 remaining cells as X (row 4, column 8).
52. Crowding (Row 5): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 6, column 7).
53. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 7).
54. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 8, column 6).
55. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 6).
56. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 5).
57. Row completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 6, column 4).
58. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 3).
59. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 10).
60. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 5, column 9).
61. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 8).
62. Region complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 3, column 8).
63. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 3, column 10).
64. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 2, column 10).
65. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 1).
66. Region complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 7, column 1).
67. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 2).
68. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 1).
69. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 2).
70. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 3).
71. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 4).
72. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 8, column 5).
73. Column completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 8, column 9).
74. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 8, column 10).
75. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 10, column 9).
76. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 10, column 10).
77. Solved! Every row, column, and region has its two stars, none touching.