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Archive · Star Battle #21

Star Battle #21 (October 25, 2026): solution and step-by-step

The 10×10 Hard two-star puzzle from Sunday, October 25, 2026. Play it first; the answer is folded below. Replays don't affect your streak.

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Star Battle #21 was the 10×10 hard board of Sunday, October 25, 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 63 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), 24 work out where a line's remaining two stars can sit without touching, 3 come from confinement (a region squeezed into one or two lines), and 3 need a “what if” check: imagine a star in a cell and watch some line run out of room. Regions range from 3 to 19 cells; the smallest is coral.

Star Battle #21 in numbers

Board10×10, two stars, Hard
Stars to place20
Regions10, from 3 to 19 cells
Deduction steps63
Rule steps33
Pair-placement steps24
Confinement steps3
“What if” contradictions3
How to start Star Battle #21: 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. Stars at row 8, column 1 and row 10, column 1. The coral region still needs two stars, and its free cells allow only one way to place them without touching — so they go in.

  2. Cross out 5 cells. Stars can't touch, not even diagonally — the cells around this star are crossed out.

  3. Cross out row 10, column 2. Stars can't touch, not even diagonally — the cells around this star are crossed out.

  4. Cross out 6 cells. Column 1 already has both its stars — the rest of it is crossed out.

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

  6. Star at row 6, column 2. Every way to place the orchid region's two stars without touching uses this cell — so it's a star.

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

  8. Cross out row 3, column 7. The rose region still needs two stars that don't touch — this cell can't be one of them, so it's crossed out.

  9. Cross out 5 cells. Every free cell of the teal region is in row 1, so both that region's stars must be there — the rest of row 1 is crossed out.

  10. Cross out row 3, column 3. This cell touches every free cell of column 2 — a star here would leave column 2 with no room for its last star, so it's crossed out.

  11. Cross out row 3, column 2. This cell touches every free cell of the orchid region — a star here would leave the orchid region with no room for its last star, so it's crossed out.

  12. Cross out row 2, column 7. Row 1 still needs two stars, and every way to place them without touching puts one next to this cell — so it's crossed out.

51 more steps follow until all 20 stars are placed.

Star Battle #21 solution

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

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

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