How to solve this 6×6 logic puzzle

6×6 · gentle · 7 steps

This 6×6 board rates as gentle (difficulty score 423). Solving it from scratch takes 15 logical steps, using 4 techniques: Single cell, Row/column exclusion, Adjacency clear, Region confinement. Every step below is forced — nothing here is a guess.

1. First, every open cell left in this region sits in row 6, so its marker has to land there — clearing every other open cell in the row.
2. Next, place a marker at row 5, column 5. Region has exactly one open cell left. Placing here clears the rest of row 5, column 5, and its region. Placing here also clears its 3 touching neighbours.
3. Then, place a marker at row 3, column 4. Region has exactly one open cell left. Placing here clears the rest of row 3, column 4, and its region. Placing here also clears its 2 touching neighbours.
4. After that, place a marker at row 1, column 3. Region has exactly one open cell left. Placing here clears the rest of row 1, column 3, and its region. Placing here also clears its 1 touching neighbour.
5. Now, place a marker at row 2, column 6. Region has exactly one open cell left. Placing here clears the rest of row 2, column 6, and its region.
6. From there, place a marker at row 6, column 2. Region has exactly one open cell left. Placing here clears the rest of row 6, column 2, and its region.
7. Finally, place a marker at row 4, column 1. Region has exactly one open cell left.

The key move here was Region confinement — once you can spot that, this board falls quickly. ∎