Expert Star Battle

Expert Star Battle answer — November 10, 2026

Stuck on the November 10, 2026 expert Star Battle (also called Two Not Touch)? Here's the complete step-by-step solution to the 10×10 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 69

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 3): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 2, column 3).
  4. Clump analysis (Region 7): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 5, column 5).
  5. Undercounting: 5 regions fit in rows 1-5, eliminate 6 outside candidates (row 3, column 1).
  6. Clump analysis (Region 7): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 7, column 4).
  7. Composite container (rows 2-5): Regions 2 and 10 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 4 of the band's 8 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 3, column 9).
  8. Joint analysis (Region 7 + Row 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 6, column 6).
  9. Joint analysis (Row 5 + Row 4): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 3, column 5).
  10. Joint analysis (Region 2 + Region 9): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 4, column 7).
  11. Squeeze (rows 4-5): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 6, column 7).
  12. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 7, column 7).
  13. Mark 3 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 8, column 6).
  14. Star claim: Region 1 must place a star in row 9; cells touching all its options are eliminated (row 10, column 8).
  15. Joint analysis (Row 4 + Row 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 5, column 9).
  16. Joint analysis (Region 7 + Row 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 6, column 3).
  17. Crowding (Region 6): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 8, column 4).
  18. Joint analysis (Row 8 + Region 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 9, column 2).
  19. Triple analysis (Region 3 + Region 8 + Row 1): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 1, column 6).
  20. Quad analysis (Row 4 + Region 2 + Row 3 + Region 9): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 2, column 7).
  21. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - stars at R5C3 and R6C4 would touch (row 1, column 7).
  22. Crowding (Region 9): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 2, column 9).
  23. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Region 1 would end up with more than 2 stars (row 2, column 5).
  24. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Region 3 would only have room for 1 of the 2 stars it still needs (row 3, column 4).
  25. Composite container (rows 3-5): Regions 2 and 10 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 9).
  26. Squeeze (rows 4-5): each clump in the band must supply its full share of stars (row 4, column 10).
  27. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Column 3 would end up with more than 2 stars (row 1, column 5).
  28. Clump analysis (Region 8): each clump must supply its full share of stars (row 2, column 6).
  29. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 3, column 6).
  30. Clump analysis (Row 3): each clump must supply its full share of stars (row 3, column 8).
  31. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 2, column 8).
  32. Clump analysis (Row 4): each clump must supply its full share of stars (row 5, column 3).
  33. Mark 3 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 4, column 4).
  34. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 5).
  35. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 5, column 6).
  36. Clump analysis (Column 4): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 1, column 3).
  37. Composite container (columns 1-3): Region 3 is confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 3 of the band's 6 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 7, column 2).
  38. Joint analysis (Region 5 + Row 8): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 9, column 1).
  39. Joint analysis (Row 9 + Row 8): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 10, column 7).
  40. Composite container (columns 7-10): Regions 1, 2 and 9 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 1 of the band's 8 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 9, column 9).
  41. Generalized counting (columns 7-8): region star limits exclude these cells (row 1, column 8).
  42. Composite container (rows 8-10): Regions 4 and 5 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 9, column 4).
  43. Clump analysis (Column 4): each clump must supply its full share of stars (row 10, column 4).
  44. Clump analysis (Region 5): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 10, column 6).
  45. Crowding (Row 9): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 8, column 9).
  46. Clump analysis (Column 9): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 6, column 10).
  47. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 9).
  48. Clump analysis (Column 10): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 9, column 6).
  49. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 4, column 6).
  50. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 4, column 5).
  51. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 8).
  52. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 9).
  53. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 1).
  54. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 8, column 5).
  55. Region complete: Mark 2 remaining cells as X (row 7, column 3).
  56. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 9).
  57. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 8, column 10).
  58. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 10).
  59. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 3, column 3).
  60. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 2, column 4).
  61. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 4).
  62. Row 1 complete: Mark 2 remaining cells as X (row 1, column 1).
  63. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 1).
  64. Column 1 complete: Mark 2 remaining cells as X (row 8, column 1).
  65. Region completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 8, column 2).
  66. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 10, column 2).
  67. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 7).
  68. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 8).
  69. 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.