Kurotto (Star Battle) by Serkan Yürekli
or solve online (using our beta test of Penpa-Edit tools)
Theme: Square in the Center
Author/Opus: This is the 296th puzzle from our managing editor Serkan Yürekli.
Rules: Standard Kurotto rules. Also, each row and column must contain exactly two stars (one in the example). Stars cannot be placed in adjacent cells that share an edge or corner, and all stars must be on shaded cells.
See also this example:
Difficulty: 4.5 stars
Time Standards (highlight to view): Grandmaster = 7:30, Master = 15:00, Expert = 30:00
Solution: PDF
Note: Follow this link for classic Kurotto puzzles and this link for variations on Kurotto puzzles. If you are new to this puzzle type, here are our easiest Kurotto to get started on. More Kurotto puzzles can be found in the ebook Kurotto by Prasanna Seshadri.
I honestly don’t know how I feel about this one. To me, the rules don’t feel like they gel together, and having the stars on the black squares made notation difficult.