... by: Dieter

#690 - initially populated cells: 26 = 32,1 %
No solver used, solver = brain.
basics: C6=8
populated cells: 27 = 33,3 %

Strategy: numbers 8,6 occur most frequently, combine two cells.
combinations of D1 = (2,4,8,9) and G1 = (2,6,8,9)
D1=8 & G1=9 solve.

... by: osiguy

I think if you exclude forcing chains you can open this up by just doing two bowmans bingo at first:

larsdoku "000040080008630900700500600076000300500000008001000460003005001007089200040010000" --exclude fc,fpc,fpce,fn --steps

Solving: 00004008000863090070...
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
# 1 R3C6=8 [crossHatch]
# 2 R5C7=1 [BowmanBingo]
# 3 R1C7=5 [BowmanBingo]
# Rest is L1/L2

... by: osiguy

Ok from the stall point with my analyzer larsdoku bd=S9B8n8n849h042d2r082g0s110806032d092t2k070n7w057o0h060v0wbg070643840t038584057s7w9lac1s2b9g087sb801d09w2g04069wc4c4032k38055u9m011f1v070u0809021a26b804842g013c6a9iae

I see a series of eliminations that leads to a placement that opens the board, i hope this is helpful! There is another series of eliminations before a second forcing chain.

════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
DETAILED SOLVE LOG (10 rounds)
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Round 1
XWing 4 eliminations
R1C2: 6 | R1C9: 6 | R9C8: 6 | R9C9: 6
X-Wing: 4 eliminations
Round 2
ALS_XZ 1 elimination
R9C1: 7
ALS-XZ: 1 eliminations
Round 3
KrakenFish 2 eliminations
R5C6: 2 | R5C8: 2
Kraken Fish: 2 eliminations
Round 4
ForcingChain R5C7 = 1✓
Notes before: 1 7 → placed 1
Forcing Chain: all branches from bivalue cell lead to 1@R5C7