Archive · Star Battle #19

Star Battle #19 (October 23, 2026): solution and step-by-step

The 10×10 Medium two-star puzzle from Friday, October 23, 2026. Play it first; the answer is folded below. Replays don't affect your streak.

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Star Battle #19 was the 10×10 medium board of Friday, October 23, 2026: two stars in every row, column and region, 20 stars in all. Our deduction solver, the same one behind the hint button, places them in 61 steps without guessing. 33 steps follow straight from the rules (a star's neighbours, a line that already has both stars, the last free cells of a line), 15 work out where a line's remaining two stars can sit without touching, 12 come from confinement (a region squeezed into one or two lines), and 1 needs a “what if” check: imagine a star in a cell and watch some line run out of room. Regions range from 4 to 19 cells; the smallest is sky.

Star Battle #19 in numbers

Board10×10, two stars, Medium
Stars to place20
Regions10, from 4 to 19 cells
Deduction steps61
Rule steps33
Pair-placement steps15
Confinement steps12
“What if” contradictions1
How to start Star Battle #19: the first 12 deductions

Each step is a deduction a person can make, in the order our solver found them. Rows and columns are counted from the top-left corner.

  1. Cross out row 5, column 2. The sky region still needs two stars that don't touch — this cell can't be one of them, so it's crossed out.

  2. Star at row 4, column 2. Every way to place the sky region's two stars without touching uses this cell — so it's a star.

  3. Cross out 7 cells. Stars can't touch, not even diagonally — the cells around this star are crossed out.

  4. Cross out 2 cells. The orchid region still needs two stars that don't touch — these cells can't be part of any such placement, so they're crossed out.

  5. Star at row 2, column 3. Every way to place the orchid region's two stars without touching uses this cell — so it's a star.

  6. Cross out 4 cells. Stars can't touch, not even diagonally — the cells around this star are crossed out.

  7. Cross out 2 cells. The lime region still needs two stars that don't touch — these cells can't be part of any such placement, so they're crossed out.

  8. Star at row 3, column 8. Every way to place the lime region's two stars without touching uses this cell — so it's a star.

  9. Cross out 6 cells. Stars can't touch, not even diagonally — the cells around this star are crossed out.

  10. Cross out row 7, column 1. This cell touches every free cell of the sky region — a star here would leave the sky region with no room for its last star, so it's crossed out.

  11. Cross out row 7, column 2. This cell touches every free cell of the sky region — a star here would leave the sky region with no room for its last star, so it's crossed out.

  12. Cross out row 4, column 4. The rose region still needs two stars, and every way to place them without touching puts one next to this cell — so it's crossed out.

49 more steps follow until all 20 stars are placed.

Star Battle #19 solution

Stars by row: row 1: columns 1 and 7; row 2: columns 3 and 5; row 3: columns 8 and 10; row 4: columns 2 and 6; row 5: columns 4 and 8; row 6: columns 1 and 10; row 7: columns 3 and 5; row 8: columns 7 and 9; row 9: columns 2 and 4; row 10: columns 6 and 9.

Back to the Star Battle archive, today's puzzle, or the two-star deductions used above.