Star polymers are branched macromolecules in which several linear arms radiate from a single central node [1]. The node may be a small molecule, a crosslinked microgel or the residue of a multifunctional initiator, and its functionality fixes the number of arms [1]. Because the arms crowd the core, chain conformation departs from that of a linear polymer of equal molar mass, and the arm number enters the hydrodynamic radius and the melt viscosity [1]. A microgel core with polyelectrolyte arms gives a species that swells and contracts as a whole [2]. Star-block and miktoarm variants carry arms of different chemistry on the same node, so incompatible segments are held in one molecule [3].