A Gentle 7×7 Puzzle Solved with Shape Squeeze in 11 Steps

This 7×7 board rates as gentle (difficulty score 776). Solving it from scratch takes 11 logical steps, using 6 techniques: Single cell, Row/column exclusion, Adjacency clear, Region confinement, Paired regions, Shape squeeze. Every step below is forced: nothing here is a guess.

1. First, together, two regions have open cells only in rows 6 and 7; with one marker each, those two markers have to fill exactly those two rows, so every other region's open cells there can be cleared.
2. Next, every open cell left in this region sits in row 5, so its marker has to land there; that clears every other open cell in the row.
3. Then, place a marker at B4. Region has exactly one open cell left. Placing here clears the rest of row 4, column B, and its region. Placing here also clears its 3 touching neighbours.
4. After that, place a marker at A2. Region has exactly one open cell left. Placing here clears the rest of row 2, column A, and its region.
5. Now, place a marker at C1. Column 3 has exactly one open cell left. Placing here clears the rest of row 1, column C, and its region.
6. From there, together, two regions have open cells only in columns F and G; with one marker each, those two markers have to fill exactly those two columns, so every other region's open cells there can be cleared.
7. Following that, every remaining candidate in this region touches D6 and E6, so whichever candidate ends up marked will clear them, and they can be ruled out now regardless of which one wins.
8. First, place a marker at E7. Region has exactly one open cell left. Placing here clears the rest of row 7, column E, and its region. Placing here also clears its 1 touching neighbour.
9. Next, place a marker at D5. Region has exactly one open cell left.
10. Then, place a marker at G6. Region has exactly one open cell left. Placing here clears the rest of row 6, column G, and its region.
11. Finally, place a marker at F3. Region has exactly one open cell left.

The key move here was Shape squeeze. Once you can spot that, this board falls quickly. ∎