Expert Star Battle

Expert Star Battle answer — July 8, 2026

Stuck on the July 8, 2026 expert Star Battle (also called Two Not Touch)? Here's the complete step-by-step solution to the 10×10 grid — every star placed with pure logic, one deduction at a time, no guessing. Tap Next to step through it, or brush up on the rules first.

Solve walkthrough Step 1 of 57

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 4, column 9).
  3. Clump analysis (Row 10): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 9, column 2).
  4. Clump analysis (Region 4): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 2, column 4).
  5. Clump analysis (Region 5): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 2, column 9).
  6. Clump analysis (Region 6): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 2, column 3).
  7. Clump analysis (Region 8): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 6, column 2).
  8. Generalized counting (rows 3-3): region star limits exclude these cells (row 3, column 7).
  9. Generalized counting (rows 1-2): region star limits exclude these cells (row 1, column 1).
  10. Crowding (Row 2): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 1, column 7).
  11. Squeeze (columns 1-2): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 5, column 1).
  12. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 6, column 1).
  13. Crowding (Column 2): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 9, column 3).
  14. Composite container (rows 4-9): Regions 1, 7, 8, 9 and 10 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 4).
  15. Region completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 3, column 3).
  16. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 4, column 2).
  17. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 4, column 5).
  18. Column completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 8, column 2).
  19. Mark 3 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 3).
  20. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 10, column 2).
  21. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 10, column 1).
  22. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 4, column 1).
  23. Row 4 complete: Mark 2 remaining cells as X (row 4, column 7).
  24. Crowding (Row 5): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 6, column 8).
  25. Squeeze (rows 2-3): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 2, column 7).
  26. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 2, column 6).
  27. Row constraint forcing: Row 3 can only take 1 star, region needs 2 (row 5, column 9).
  28. Mark 3 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 5, column 8).
  29. Generalized counting (rows 5-5): region star limits exclude these cells (row 6, column 5).
  30. Clump analysis (Column 5): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 9, column 4).
  31. Composite container (rows 5-7): Region 9 is confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 3 of the band's 6 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 8, column 9).
  32. Composite container (columns 4-7): Region 7 is 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 6, column 6).
  33. Two last candidates (row 6): Eliminate 2 cells adjacent to both (row 5, column 3).
  34. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 7).
  35. Clump analysis (Row 7): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 8, column 7).
  36. Squeeze (columns 3-5): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 9, column 5).
  37. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 6).
  38. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 7).
  39. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 8, column 4).
  40. Region complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 6, column 4).
  41. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 3).
  42. Column 3 complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 1, column 3).
  43. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 4).
  44. Column 4 complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 10, column 4).
  45. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 10, column 5).
  46. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 7).
  47. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 8).
  48. Region complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 9, column 9).
  49. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 10).
  50. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 9).
  51. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 8).
  52. Three candidates in a column: Middle cell can't hold a star (row 2, column 8).
  53. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 10).
  54. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 10).
  55. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 8).
  56. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 3, column 8).
  57. Solved! Every row, column, and region has its two stars, none touching.

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This step-by-step walkthrough is generated by the TryHard Puzzles solver to teach Star Battle (Two Not Touch) solving technique.