Expert Star Battle answer — November 7, 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 1).
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 8, column 2).
4. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 7, column 1).
5. Mark 3 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 1).
6. Clump analysis (Region 3): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 5, column 6).
7. Clump analysis (Region 8): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 2, column 2).
8. Lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - row 9 can only hold 2 stars but the regions there would be forced to place 3 (row 9, column 5).
9. Joint analysis (Region 2 + Row 8): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 7, column 5).
10. Triple analysis (Region 7 + Region 9 + Column 9): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 2, column 7).
11. Triple analysis (Region 3 + Column 5 + Column 4): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 5, column 4).
12. Quad analysis (Column 2 + Region 8 + Row 2 + Row 3): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 4, column 1).
13. 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 3).
14. Triple analysis (Column 1 + Region 8 + Region 4): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 2, column 5).
15. Clump analysis (Region 3): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 6, column 4).
16. Composite container (columns 6-9): Regions 6, 7 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 8, column 7).
17. Quad analysis (Column 2 + Region 8 + Row 2 + Region 4): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 3, column 5).
18. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - rows 4-5 must hold 4 stars but the regions there could only supply 3 (row 1, column 4).
19. Joint analysis (Region 8 + Row 2): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 3, column 3).
20. Composite container (rows 1-3): Regions 7 and 8 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 7).
21. Triple analysis (Column 4 + Column 5 + Row 6): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 7, column 6).
22. Squeeze (columns 6-7): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 6, column 8).
23. Composite container (columns 6-9): Regions 6, 7 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 7).
24. Squeeze (rows 3-4): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 5, column 3).
25. Joint analysis (Column 2 + Column 3): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 7, column 4).
26. Squeeze (columns 4-5): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 5, column 5).
27. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 6, column 5).
28. Clump analysis (Region 4): each clump must supply its full share of stars (row 4, column 4).
29. Crowding (Row 5): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 4, column 8).
30. Generalized counting (columns 1-3): region star limits exclude these cells (row 9, column 3).
31. Composite container (columns 7-8): Region 6 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 8).
32. Joint analysis (Column 3 + Column 2): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 5, column 1).
33. Squeeze (rows 5-6): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 5, column 8).
34. Triple analysis (Row 8 + Column 7 + Column 8): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 9, column 4).
35. Squeeze (columns 3-4): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 7, column 3).
36. Row completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 5, column 7).
37. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 4, column 6).
38. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 3, column 6).
39. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 2, column 6).
40. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 9).
41. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 4, column 9).
42. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 4, column 2).
43. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 3, column 1).
44. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 1).
45. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 1).
46. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 3).
47. Region complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 8, column 3).
48. Column 1 complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 9, column 1).
49. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 2).
50. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 3).
51. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 2, column 4).
52. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 5).
53. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 6).
54. Row 2 complete: Mark 2 remaining cells as X (row 2, column 8).
55. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 8, column 4).
56. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 8, column 5).
57. Two last candidates (column 6): Eliminate 1 cell adjacent to both (row 9, column 7).
58. Clump analysis (Row 1): each clump must supply its full share of stars (row 3, column 9).
59. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 3, column 8).
60. Column 9 complete: Mark 4 remaining cells as X (row 1, column 9).
61. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 8).
62. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 7).
63. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 8).
64. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 8, column 6).
65. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 6).
66. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 7).
67. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 8).
68. Solved! Every row, column, and region has its two stars, none touching.