Expert Star Battle answer — November 9, 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 2, column 2).
3. Clump analysis (Region 7): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 8, column 6).
4. Clump analysis (Region 9): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 8, column 3).
5. Crowding (Region 6): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 2, column 3).
6. 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 5).
7. Generalized counting (rows 1-1): region star limits exclude these cells (row 1, column 7).
8. 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 4, column 2).
9. 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 4, column 3).
10. Lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - columns 8-10 must hold 6 stars but the regions there could only supply 5 (row 7, column 8).
11. Joint analysis (Region 9 + Region 3): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 6, column 2).
12. Triple analysis (Region 7 + Region 3 + Column 6): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 9, column 8).
13. Triple analysis (Region 9 + Region 3 + Row 6): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 7, column 9).
14. Triple analysis (Region 6 + Region 8 + Column 3): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 2, column 4).
15. 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 4, column 4).
16. 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 4, column 5).
17. Triple analysis (Region 5 + Region 6 + Row 1): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 3, column 1).
18. Triple analysis (Region 9 + Region 8 + Column 1): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 7, column 1).
19. Generalized counting (rows 9-10): region star limits exclude these cells (row 9, column 10).
20. Triple analysis (Region 9 + Region 8 + Column 2): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 9, column 3).
21. Quad analysis (Region 7 + Row 8 + Region 3 + Column 7): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 7, column 5).
22. Quad analysis (Region 6 + Region 8 + Column 3 + Column 2): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 1, column 1).
23. Quad analysis (Region 3 + Row 7 + Column 7 + Column 6): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 6, column 7).
24. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - stars at R5C1 and R6C1 would touch (row 2, column 6).
25. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - stars at R4C7 and R4C8 would touch (row 3, column 2).
26. Three candidates in a row: Middle cell can't hold a star (row 3, column 4).
27. Row completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 3, column 3).
28. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 3, column 5).
29. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 4, column 6).
30. Joint analysis (Column 5 + Region 3): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 6, column 5).
31. Blocking rule: a star here would touch every other open cell in its region, leaving no room for the region's second star (row 7, column 3).
32. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 7, column 2).
33. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 1).
34. Two-option rule: Cell adjacent to both candidates (row 8, column 5).
35. Lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - stars at R1C2 and R2C1 would touch (row 5, column 3).
36. Triple analysis (Region 3 + Region 10 + Row 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 5, column 8).
37. Quad analysis (Region 8 + Row 4 + Region 10 + Row 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 1, column 2).
38. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 3).
39. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 4).
40. Column 3 complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 10, column 3).
41. Squeeze (columns 1-2): each clump in the band must supply its full share of stars (row 2, column 1).
42. Composite container (rows 4-8): Regions 1, 3, 8, 9 and 10 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 1 of the band's 10 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 5, column 9).
43. Joint analysis (Column 7 + Column 8): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 2, column 9).
44. Squeeze (columns 9-10): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 7, column 10).
45. Squeeze (columns 9-10): each clump in the band must supply its full share of stars (row 10, column 9).
46. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 10, column 8).
47. Joint analysis (Column 8 + Column 7): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 5, column 7).
48. Triple analysis (Region 2 + Column 7 + Column 8): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 4, column 1).
49. Quad analysis (Column 7 + Row 6 + Column 6 + Region 10): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 5, column 5).
50. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - stars at R4C7 and R5C6 would touch (row 1, column 5).
51. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 6).
52. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 2, column 7).
53. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 8).
54. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 10, column 5).
55. Mark 3 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 4).
56. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 7).
57. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 8, column 8).
58. Row 10 complete: Mark 2 remaining cells as X (row 10, column 1).
59. Clump analysis (Row 8): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 7, column 4).
60. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 8, column 4).
61. Two last candidates (row 7): Eliminate 1 cell adjacent to both (row 6, column 6).
62. Column constraint forcing: Column 6 can only take 1 star, region needs 2 (row 8, column 9).
63. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 8, column 10).
64. Column 9 complete: Mark 2 remaining cells as X (row 4, column 9).
65. Region completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 4, column 8).
66. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 4, column 7).
67. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 10).
68. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 4, column 10).
69. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 7).
70. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 8).
71. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 6).
72. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 4).
73. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 5, column 4).
74. Region complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 5, column 1).
75. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 2).
76. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 1).
77. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 2).
78. Solved! Every row, column, and region has its two stars, none touching.