Inkwell Stars solution — June 20, 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 8).
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 3, column 4).
4. Clump analysis (Region 3): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 1, column 9).
5. Clump analysis (Region 6): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 2, column 5).
6. Joint analysis (Region 6 + Row 4): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 5, column 2).
7. Quad analysis (Region 6 + Region 7 + Column 2 + Region 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 9, column 3).
8. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Column 2 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 1, column 3).
9. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - column 3 can only hold 2 stars but the regions there would be forced to place 3 (row 1, column 4).
10. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Column 3 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 1, column 5).
11. Clump analysis (Region 1): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 2, column 2).
12. Triple analysis (Column 2 + Column 1 + Region 5): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 2, column 3).
13. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Row 1 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 1, column 7).
14. Deep lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - stars at R1C8 and R2C9 would touch (row 3, column 3).
15. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 4, column 3).
16. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 5, column 3).
17. 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).
18. Clump analysis (Region 7): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 6, column 2).
19. Composite container (columns 4-10): Regions 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 10 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 9, column 5).
20. Lookahead: Placing star here leads to contradiction - Region 7 would only have room for 0 of the 1 star it still needs (row 8, column 3).
21. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 8, column 4).
22. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 5).
23. 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 7).
24. Clump analysis (Region 9): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 7, column 8).
25. Generalized counting (columns 6-6): region star limits exclude these cells (row 5, column 6).
26. Generalized counting (columns 1-3): region star limits exclude these cells (row 10, column 4).
27. Joint analysis (Region 9 + Row 8): every legal combination of their stars rules these cells out (row 8, column 6).
28. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 9, column 6).
29. Blocking rule: a star here would touch every other open cell in its region, leaving no room for the region's second star (row 9, column 9).
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 10, column 9).
31. Three candidates with two adjacent: Isolated candidate must hold a star (row 10, column 10).
32. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 10).
33. Clump analysis (Column 5): candidate clumps can only just supply the remaining stars (row 3, column 6).
34. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 4).
35. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 3, column 5).
36. Three candidates in a column: Middle cell can't hold a star (row 5, column 5).
37. Column completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 4, column 5).
38. Row 4 complete: Mark 3 remaining cells as X (row 4, column 1).
39. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 5).
40. Region complete: Mark 6 remaining cells as X (row 5, column 7).
41. Row completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 5, column 1).
42. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 1).
43. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 5, column 10).
44. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 6, column 10).
45. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 6, column 3).
46. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 7, column 2).
47. Column 3 complete: Mark 1 remaining cell as X (row 10, column 3).
48. Column completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 3, column 7).
49. Mark 2 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 2, column 6).
50. Region completion: 2 stars needed, 2 candidates (row 1, column 6).
51. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 3, column 9).
52. Mark 3 cells adjacent to stars as X (row 2, column 9).
53. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 1, column 8).
54. Row 1 complete: Mark 3 remaining cells as X (row 1, column 1).
55. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 2, column 1).
56. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 3, column 1).
57. Column 1 complete: Mark 4 remaining cells as X (row 7, column 1).
58. Column completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 7).
59. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 8, column 8).
60. Column 10 complete: Mark 2 remaining cells as X (row 7, column 10).
61. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 7, column 9).
62. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 8, column 9).
63. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 8, column 2).
64. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 9, column 2).
65. Region completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 10, column 2).
66. Row completion: 1 star needed, 1 candidate (row 9, column 8).
67. Mark 1 cell adjacent to stars as X (row 10, column 8).
68. Solved! Every row, column, and region has its two stars, none touching.