Inkwell Stars solution — March 15, 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. Blocking rule: a star here would touch every other open cell in its region, leaving no room for the region's second star (row 5, column 5).
4. Clump analysis (Region 3): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 4, column 9).
5. Star claim: Region 4 must place a star in row 5; cells touching all its options are eliminated (row 6, column 2).
6. Crowding (Region 4): a star here would leave too little room for its 2 remaining stars (row 4, column 1).
7. Generalized counting (rows 1-3): region star limits exclude these cells (row 4, column 8).
8. Generalized counting (rows 8-10): region star limits exclude these cells (row 7, column 1).
9. Generalized counting (columns 10-10): region star limits exclude these cells (row 1, column 10).
10. Composite container (rows 1-3): Regions 1 and 2 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 2, column 1).
11. Composite container (rows 1-3): Regions 1 and 2 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 2 of the band's 6 stars - impossible without stars on these cells (row 3, column 2).
12. Composite container (rows 8-10): Regions 9 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 8, column 1).
13. Composite container (columns 1-7): Regions 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 2 of the band's 14 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 7, column 6).
14. Lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - column 10 can only hold 2 stars but the regions there would be forced to place 3 (row 5, column 10).
15. Lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - column 10 can only hold 2 stars but the regions there would be forced to place 3 (row 6, column 9).
16. Lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Region 7 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 7, column 2).
17. Star claim: Region 7 must place a star in row 6; cells touching all its options are eliminated (row 5, column 2).
18. Lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - row 6 can only hold 2 stars but the regions there would be forced to place 3 (row 6, column 6).
19. Composite container (rows 6-10): Regions 7, 8, 9 and 10 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 2 of the band's 10 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 6, column 8).
20. Lookahead: This cell must be a star - eliminating it leads to contradiction (column 10 can only hold 2 stars but the regions there would be forced to place 3) (row 7, column 9).
21. Mark 4 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 10).
22. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 10).
23. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 10, column 9).
24. Clump analysis (Region 10): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 9, column 7).
25. Squeeze (rows 7-8): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 1, column 2).
26. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 8, column 2).
27. Clump analysis (Region 10): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 8, column 4).
28. Composite container (rows 9-10): Region 9 is confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 1 of the band's 4 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 10, column 7).
29. Composite container (rows 1-6): Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 1 of the band's 12 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 5, column 6).
30. Blocking rule: a star here would touch every other open cell in its region, leaving no room for the region's second star (row 5, column 4).
31. Clump analysis (Region 5): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 3, column 4).
32. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 7).
33. Mark 3 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 7).
34. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 8, column 5).
35. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 4).
36. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 8).
37. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 10, column 8).
38. Squeeze (columns 3-4): the band's clumps can only just fit its stars (row 5, column 3).
39. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 1).
40. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 1).
41. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 3).
42. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 4).
43. Region completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 4, column 4).
44. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 5).
45. Column 5 complete: Mark 3 remaining cells as X (row 1, column 5).
46. Composite container (rows 1-2): Region 1 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 1, column 7).
47. Composite container (columns 1-6): Regions 1 and 9 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 1 of the band's 12 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 3, column 7).
48. Composite container (columns 1-7): Regions 1, 6 and 9 are confined here, so the leftover cells owe exactly 1 of the band's 14 stars - a star on these cells would crowd them out (row 2, column 6).
49. Lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Region 3 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 5, column 7).
50. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 4, column 6).
51. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 3, column 6).
52. Row 4 complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 4, column 10).
53. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 7).
54. Mark 4 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 6).
55. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 9).
56. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 2, column 10).
57. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 4).
58. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 1, column 3).
59. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 1).
60. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 3, column 10).
61. Column 1 complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 10, column 1).
62. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 10, column 3).
63. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 10, column 4).
64. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 10, column 6).
65. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 8).
66. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 5, column 9).
67. Solved! Every row, column, and region has its two stars, none touching.