NYT Pips Hints & Answers for April 30, 2026

In today's NYT Pips easy, Ian Livengood constructs a compact grid around a solitary greater-than region—a rare design signature that forces a high domino into a corner, sparking a cascade through interlocking sum-4 regions. The puzzle feels like a tiny gearbox, where once the 5 is placed, every other cell clicks into order with minimalist elegance. His medium puzzle scales up the ambition, deploying a pair of equals regions that span the top and middle rows. A greater-8 constraint in the upper-left quadrant demands a pair of 5s, while the equals regions lock in 6s and 2s across columns, creating a rhythmic pattern. The structural neatness of having two thematic equalities—one horizontal, one vertical—shows a designer delighting in symmetric constraints.

Rodolfo Kurchan’s hard puzzle is a masterclass in sum-of-zero architecture. The grid is dotted with single-cell sum-0 regions that act as vacuum chambers, forcibly drawing in the 0-pip sides of dominos. Along the top row, sum-2, sum-3, and sum-4 single-cell constraints create a precise arithmetic spine that, combined with an empty central row, turns the board into a deductive domino-laying puzzle. The less-than and greater-than regions at the bottom add a final flourish, locking the last few values without ever feeling arbitrary. The result is a dense but fluid solve that rewards methodical scanning.

Try these hints one at a time. Each hint becomes more specific to help you solve it yourself!