The puzzle's most definitive starting points were the top two corners. The Purple 2 (top-left) was blocked from expanding right or down by the Gold 4 clue, forcing it into a 2x1 vertical rectangle. Similarly, the Orange 3 (top-right) was pinned by the Green 4, forcing it into a 3x1 vertical rectangle.

Attention then shifts to the bottom corners. The Teal 3 (bottom-left) couldn't expand upwards without trapping the Magenta 4, so it had to form a 1x3 horizontal rectangle. Likewise, the Blue 2 (bottom-right) was forced into a 1x2 horizontal rectangle by the Dark Green 4 above it. With these moves, the entire top and bottom edges of the grid were solved.

This perimeter framework created a "squeeze" on the four clues with an area of 4. The Gold 4 and top Green 4 were now bounded on two sides, making 1x4 or 4x1 shapes impossible. They were both forced to become 2x2 squares. The same logic applied to the Magenta 4 and bottom Dark Green 4, which were also squeezed by the newly formed bottom row and their neighbors.

With all four squares in place, the central clues fell like dominoes. The Red clue was now situated in a 3-cell wide horizontal gap between the Gold and Green squares, forcing it to become a 3x1 rectangle. This placement defined the remaining spaces for the central column, locking the Light Blue shape into a 1x2, the Brown into a 1x3, and the Teal into a 2x1, completing the puzzle.