Expert Star Battle answer — November 3, 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 4, column 2).
3. Clump analysis (Region 2): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 1, column 7).
4. Clump analysis (Region 5): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 4, column 8).
5. Clump analysis (Region 10): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 6, column 10).
6. Undercounting: 5 regions fit in rows 1-5, eliminate 6 outside candidates (row 5, column 5).
7. 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 8).
8. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 6, column 7).
9. Mark 4 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 6).
10. Two-option rule: Cell adjacent to both candidates (row 7, column 10).
11. Clump analysis (Row 5): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 4, column 1).
12. Crowding (Row 4): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 3, column 6).
13. Composite container (rows 6-7): Region 10 is confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 2 of the band's 4 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 8, column 2).
14. 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 2, column 1).
15. 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 3, column 1).
16. Composite container (rows 3-4): Region 5 is confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 2 of the band's 4 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 2, column 3).
17. Lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - columns 7-10 must hold 8 stars but the regions there could only supply 7 (row 10, column 6).
18. Joint analysis (Column 6 + Region 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 2, column 7).
19. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Column 8 would only have room for 1 of the 2 stars it still needs (row 1, column 9).
20. 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 2, column 4).
21. Triple analysis (Region 5 + Row 2 + Region 9): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 3, column 9).
22. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Region 4 would end up with more than 2 stars (row 2, column 5).
23. Composite container (rows 2-4): Region 5 is confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 4 of the band's 6 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 3, column 7).
24. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Column 2 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 2, column 6).
25. 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 9).
26. Squeeze (rows 2-3): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 4, column 5).
27. Clump analysis (Row 4): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 3, column 10).
28. Squeeze (rows 2-3): each clump in the band must supply its full share of stars (row 2, column 10).
29. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 10).
30. Generalized counting (columns 7-10): region star limits exclude these cells (row 9, column 7).
31. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Column 6 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 1, column 2).
32. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - stars at R7C5 and R8C6 would touch (row 1, column 3).
33. Triple analysis (Region 7 + Column 3 + Column 2): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 9, column 2).
34. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Column 4 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 1, column 1).
35. Squeeze (columns 1-2): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 3, column 3).
36. Composite container (rows 1-4): Regions 2, 5 and 9 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 3, column 5).
37. Squeeze (rows 2-3): each clump in the band must supply its full share of stars (row 3, column 4).
38. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - stars at R5C2 and R5C3 would touch (row 1, column 4).
39. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 4, column 6).
40. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 4, column 7).
41. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 4, column 10).
42. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 4, column 9).
43. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 3, column 8).
44. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 2, column 8).
45. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 8).
46. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 2).
47. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 3, column 2).
48. Region complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 5, column 4).
49. Column 8 complete: Mark 3 remaining cells as X (row 8, column 8).
50. Column 10 complete: Mark 3 remaining cells as X (row 8, column 10).
51. Three candidates in a row: Middle cell can't hold a star (row 5, column 2).
52. Region completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 5, column 1).
53. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 3).
54. Two last candidates (column 4): Eliminate 2 cells adjacent to both (row 9, column 3).
55. Two last candidates (column 7): Eliminate 1 cell adjacent to both (row 9, column 6).
56. Row completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 9, column 1).
57. Mark 3 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 8, column 1).
58. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 9).
59. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 8, column 9).
60. Column 1 complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 7, column 1).
61. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 2).
62. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 3).
63. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 8, column 4).
64. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 5).
65. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 9).
66. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 9).
67. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 5).
68. Region complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 8, column 6).
69. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 8, column 7).
70. Region complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 10, column 7).
71. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 10, column 3).
72. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 10, column 4).
73. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 10, column 5).
74. Column 5 complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 1, column 5).
75. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 6).
76. Solved! Every row, column, and region has its two stars, none touching.