Expert Star Battle

Expert Star Battle answer — October 29, 2026

Stuck on the October 29, 2026 expert Star Battle (also called Two Not Touch)? Here's the complete step-by-step solution to the 9×9 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 65

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 2): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 8, column 8).
  3. Clump analysis (Region 3): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 2, column 2).
  4. Clump analysis (Region 1): 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 5, column 3).
  6. Triple analysis (Region 1 + Column 2 + Region 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 6, column 3).
  7. Triple analysis (Column 3 + Column 2 + Region 7): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 8, column 2).
  8. Quad analysis (Region 1 + Column 2 + Column 3 + Region 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 4, column 4).
  9. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Column 2 would end up with more than 2 stars (row 2, column 1).
  10. Joint analysis (Region 3 + Row 1): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 1, column 6).
  11. Triple analysis (Region 3 + Region 9 + Row 1): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 3, column 6).
  12. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Column 2 would end up with more than 2 stars (row 1, column 8).
  13. Generalized counting (columns 8-9): region star limits exclude these cells (row 9, column 7).
  14. Triple analysis (Column 6 + Column 7 + Region 6): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 8, column 5).
  15. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Row 5 would only have room for 1 of the 2 stars it still needs (row 2, column 3).
  16. Clump analysis (Row 2): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 3, column 8).
  17. Clump analysis (Region 1): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 4, column 3).
  18. Triple analysis (Region 5 + Row 4 + Region 4): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 5, column 1).
  19. Triple analysis (Region 5 + Region 4 + Region 7): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 4, column 6).
  20. Joint analysis (Row 4 + Row 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 5, column 8).
  21. Quad analysis (Row 5 + Region 5 + Region 4 + Region 7): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 8, column 4).
  22. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Region 7 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 3, column 2).
  23. Composite container (columns 2-7): Regions 4, 5, 6 and 9 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 4 of the band's 12 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 8, column 3).
  24. Joint analysis (Row 8 + Row 7): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 6, column 4).
  25. Composite container (rows 1-6): Regions 1, 3, 8 and 9 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 4 of the band's 12 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 7, column 8).
  26. Triple analysis (Column 8 + Row 4 + Row 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 3, column 9).
  27. Triple analysis (Region 4 + Row 5 + Row 6): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 6, column 6).
  28. Joint analysis (Column 6 + Column 7): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 8, column 7).
  29. Squeeze (rows 8-9): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 6, column 1).
  30. Squeeze (columns 7-8): each clump in the band must supply its full share of stars (row 9, column 8).
  31. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 8, column 9).
  32. Row completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 8, column 1).
  33. Mark 3 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 2).
  34. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 8, column 6).
  35. Mark 5 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 5).
  36. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 7).
  37. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 5, column 6).
  38. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 6).
  39. Mark 6 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 5).
  40. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 4, column 7).
  41. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 4, column 8).
  42. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 8).
  43. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 9).
  44. Three candidates in a column: Middle cell can't hold a star (row 5, column 5).
  45. Column completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 4, column 5).
  46. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 3, column 4).
  47. Row completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 3, column 1).
  48. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 4, column 1).
  49. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 3, column 3).
  50. Row 4 complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 4, column 9).
  51. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 9).
  52. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 9).
  53. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 9).
  54. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 2).
  55. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 2).
  56. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 3).
  57. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 4).
  58. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 5).
  59. Column 1 complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 1, column 1).
  60. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 2).
  61. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 3).
  62. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 4).
  63. Column 3 complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 9, column 3).
  64. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 4).
  65. 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.