Expert Star Battle answer — September 5, 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 9).
3. Clump analysis (Region 4): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 2, column 3).
4. Clump analysis (Region 5): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 1, column 2).
5. Clump analysis (Region 8): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 6, column 8).
6. Clump analysis (Region 9): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 5, column 4).
7. Triple analysis (Row 8 + Row 7 + Region 2): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 9, column 2).
8. Joint analysis (Region 9 + Column 2): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 7, column 3).
9. Triple analysis (Row 8 + Row 9 + Region 2): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 7, column 2).
10. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Row 3 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 1, column 6).
11. 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 4).
12. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Row 3 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 1, column 8).
13. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Row 3 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 3, column 1).
14. Clump analysis (Region 5): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 3, column 3).
15. Quad analysis (Row 6 + Region 6 + Row 5 + Region 1): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 4, column 8).
16. Quad analysis (Column 8 + Row 2 + Row 3 + Column 7): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 8, column 7).
17. Joint analysis (Row 8 + Row 9): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 7, column 1).
18. Composite container (rows 1-7): Regions 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 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 6, column 6).
19. Squeeze (rows 6-7): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 5, column 2).
20. Triple analysis (Row 7 + Row 8 + Region 2): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 9, column 1).
21. Quad analysis (Row 7 + Column 6 + Region 1 + Column 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 8, column 6).
22. Clump analysis (Row 8): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 7, column 4).
23. Squeeze (columns 3-4): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 3, column 5).
24. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Column 8 would end up with more than 2 stars (row 1, column 9).
25. Clump analysis (Region 3): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 3, column 9).
26. Triple analysis (Row 3 + Region 1 + Row 2): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 4, column 6).
27. Composite container (columns 1-6): Regions 1, 2, 4, 5 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 8, column 5).
28. Triple analysis (Region 6 + Column 6 + Region 1): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 2, column 7).
29. Triple analysis (Row 4 + Row 3 + Region 6): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 5, column 8).
30. Band-region constraint (columns 1-4): Region 4 confined, 2 cells eliminated (row 1, column 5).
31. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 3, column 4).
32. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 4, column 4).
33. Crowding (Row 4): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 3, column 8).
34. Crowding (Column 5): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 6, column 4).
35. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 4).
36. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 3).
37. Three candidates in a row: Middle cell can't hold a star (row 8, column 2).
38. Region completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 8, column 1).
39. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 8, column 3).
40. 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 2).
41. Three candidates in a column: Middle cell can't hold a star (row 3, column 2).
42. Column completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 2, column 2).
43. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 1).
44. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 4, column 2).
45. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 5, column 1).
46. Region completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 6, column 1).
47. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 3).
48. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 7).
49. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 2, column 6).
50. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 9).
51. Row 6 complete: Mark 2 remaining cells as X (row 6, column 5).
52. Column completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 7, column 8).
53. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 7).
54. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 8).
55. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 7).
56. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 7, column 6).
57. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 5).
58. Column completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 5, column 5).
59. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 5, column 6).
60. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 3, column 6).
61. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 3, column 7).
62. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 4, column 9).
63. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 5, column 9).
64. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 7).
65. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 5).
66. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 6).
67. Solved! Every row, column, and region has its two stars, none touching.