Expert Star Battle answer — July 9, 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. Clump analysis (Region 4): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 6, column 3).
3. Clump analysis (Region 5): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 4, column 8).
4. Clump analysis (Region 2): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 4, column 6).
5. Clump analysis (Region 9): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 2, column 4).
6. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Row 8 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 2, column 6).
7. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Region 9 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 1, column 8).
8. Quad analysis (Region 5 + Column 8 + Region 2 + Column 7): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 8, column 7).
9. Quad analysis (Region 4 + Region 6 + Row 8 + Row 7): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 6, column 4).
10. Composite container (columns 1-4): Regions 4, 6 and 7 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 2 of the band's 8 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 4, column 3).
11. Quad analysis (Column 8 + Region 2 + Row 4 + Row 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 6, column 7).
12. Quad analysis (Region 4 + Region 9 + Column 4 + Row 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 8, column 3).
13. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Region 9 would end up with more than 2 stars (row 2, column 2).
14. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - stars at R5C7 and R6C6 would touch (row 2, column 3).
15. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - stars at R6C8 and R7C8 would touch (row 2, column 7).
16. Composite container (columns 1-7): Regions 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 4 of the band's 14 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 8, column 6).
17. Triple analysis (Row 8 + Region 6 + Row 7): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 7, column 2).
18. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Row 5 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 1, column 1).
19. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Row 9 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 1, column 4).
20. Composite container (columns 1-3): Regions 6 and 7 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 4, column 2).
21. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - column 1 can only hold 2 stars but the regions there would be forced to place 3 (row 1, column 5).
22. Composite container (rows 1-4): Regions 1 and 7 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 3, column 4).
23. Clump analysis (Region 2): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 2, column 8).
24. Crowding (Column 4): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 8, column 5).
25. Squeeze (rows 7-8): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 6, column 6).
26. Generalized counting (columns 9-9): region star limits exclude these cells (row 3, column 9).
27. 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).
28. Squeeze (rows 8-9): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 7, column 7).
29. Squeeze (rows 6-7): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 8, column 4).
30. Clump analysis (Row 8): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 7, column 1).
31. Clump analysis (Row 8): each clump must supply its full share of stars (row 8, column 8).
32. Mark 4 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 8).
33. Blocking rule: a star here would touch every other open cell in its region, leaving no room for the region's second star (row 5, column 9).
34. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 4, column 9).
35. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 3, column 8).
36. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 8).
37. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 5, column 7).
38. Region completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 3, column 7).
39. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 6).
40. Mark 3 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 4, column 5).
41. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 7).
42. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 6).
43. Two last candidates (row 6): Eliminate 2 cells adjacent to both (row 5, column 1).
44. Two last candidates (row 5): Eliminate 1 cell adjacent to both (row 4, column 4).
45. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 4, column 1).
46. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 3, column 1).
47. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 3, column 3).
48. Row 3 complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 3, column 5).
49. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 5).
50. Crowding (Column 2): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 7, column 3).
51. Three candidates in a row: Middle cell can't hold a star (row 7, column 5).
52. Row completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 7, column 4).
53. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 6).
54. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 5).
55. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 4).
56. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 4).
57. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 5, column 3).
58. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 2).
59. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 1).
60. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 3).
61. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 8, column 2).
62. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 8, column 1).
63. Column 1 complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 2, column 1).
64. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 9).
65. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 9).
66. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 2).
67. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 3).
68. Solved! Every row, column, and region has its two stars, none touching.