Expert Star Battle answer — August 28, 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 1, column 3).
3. Blocking rule: a star here would touch every other open cell in its region, leaving no room for the region's second star (row 2, column 3).
4. Clump analysis (Region 6): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 1, column 1).
5. 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 2).
6. Clump analysis (Region 9): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 1, column 7).
7. Composite container (columns 1-3): Regions 2 and 3 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 8, column 2).
8. Joint analysis (Region 2 + Column 2): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 6, column 1).
9. Triple analysis (Region 5 + Region 1 + Column 9): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 8, column 7).
10. Quad analysis (Region 9 + Column 5 + Column 6 + Region 4): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 2, column 7).
11. Quad analysis (Region 8 + Column 5 + Column 6 + Region 4): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 6, column 7).
12. Composite container (columns 1-7): Regions 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 9 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 2 of the band's 14 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 8, column 6).
13. Triple analysis (Column 6 + Region 4 + Region 7): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 6, column 5).
14. Quad analysis (Row 8 + Column 8 + Region 7 + Row 7): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 7, column 2).
15. Quad analysis (Column 5 + Row 6 + Column 4 + Region 4): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 7, column 3).
16. Quad analysis (Column 7 + Row 6 + Row 7 + Region 7): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 5, column 3).
17. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Region 3 would end up with more than 2 stars (row 1, column 9).
18. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - stars at R9C7 and R9C8 would touch (row 2, column 2).
19. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 1, column 2).
20. Crowding (Row 2): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 3, column 5).
21. Squeeze (rows 2-3): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 4, column 1).
22. Composite container (columns 3-5): Regions 6 and 8 are 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 7, column 4).
23. Lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - row 1 can only hold 2 stars but the regions there would be forced to place 3 (row 5, column 8).
24. Joint analysis (Row 4 + Region 4): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 5, column 5).
25. Joint analysis (Column 5 + Column 4): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 9, column 6).
26. Clump analysis (Region 1): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 8, column 8).
27. Generalized counting (columns 7-9): region star limits exclude these cells (row 5, column 7).
28. Squeeze (columns 7-8): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 2, column 9).
29. Crowding (Row 2): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 3, column 7).
30. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 4, column 7).
31. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 5, column 6).
32. Clump analysis (Column 6): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 7, column 5).
33. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 7).
34. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 8).
35. Clump analysis (Column 5): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 4, column 3).
36. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 4, column 5).
37. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 3, column 4).
38. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 6).
39. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 6).
40. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 8, column 5).
41. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 5).
42. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 6, column 4).
43. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 3).
44. Row 6 complete: Mark 3 remaining cells as X (row 6, column 2).
45. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 8).
46. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 9).
47. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 9).
48. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 1).
49. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 8, column 1).
50. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 8, column 3).
51. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 3).
52. Row 9 complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 9, column 1).
53. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 2).
54. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 5, column 1).
55. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 9).
56. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 3, column 1).
57. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 3, column 2).
58. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 3, column 3).
59. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 2, column 4).
60. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 4).
61. Row 1 complete: Mark 2 remaining cells as X (row 1, column 6).
62. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 6).
63. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 8).
64. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 3, column 9).
65. Solved! Every row, column, and region has its two stars, none touching.