NYT Pips Hints & Answers for August 29, 2026

🚨 SPOILER WARNING

This page contains the final **answer** and the complete **solution** to today's NYT Pips puzzle. If you haven't attempted the puzzle yet and want to try solving it yourself first, now's your chance!

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Want hints instead? Scroll down for progressive clues that won't spoil the fun.

🎲 Today's Puzzle Overview

Today's NYT Pips easy, built by Ian Livengood, feels like a quick opening act: you spot a handful of single-cell inequality regions that disclose their digits almost immediately, then the sum regions form a clean chain across the top and bottom. You don't get a long grid to wander—the solve is tight and confidence-building.

In Rodolfo Kurchan's medium, the mood shifts to equals logic. A large four-cell equal block in the upper middle acts like a keystone; once you decide what it can be, the adjacent sum region and bottom equals pairs fall in. You'll likely spend your time checking repeated values rather than arithmetic.

The hard, also from Kurchan, is the real stress test. The grid is split between extreme zero sums, a long equals column, and two high-ceiling sum bars. The solver's job is to trace how those extremes supply each other: the bottom zero and triple-equals settle first, the high bars consume the matching big dominoes, and the central column then resolves as a chain of small repeated values.

💡 Progressive Hints

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

💡 Read the singletons

This easy grid gives you quick gifts: single-cell greater and less regions make certain top and bottom cells very restrictive. Pair those with the small two-cell sum regions and the values split themselves.

💡 Work the top row

The single-cell restrictions at [0,0] and [0,3] bracket the top sum region at [0,1]-[0,2]. That top-row logic repeats at the bottom with the single cells at [2,0] and [2,3].

💡 Full easy answer

Place [5,6] at [0,0]=6 and [0,1]=5; [4,2] at [0,2]=2 and [0,3]=4; [1,3] at [1,1]=3 and [1,2]=1; [5,4] at [2,0]=5 and [2,1]=4; [6,6] at [2,2]=6 and [2,3]=6.

💡 Hunt the equals

This puzzle's architecture is built from equals regions, not just sums. Locate the matching-pair zones first, then let the adjacent sum regions divide the leftover dominoes.

💡 Key equal block

The isolated right-edge equals pair at [0,4]-[1,4] takes one matching domino, while the large four-cell equals block at [1,2]-[3,2] demands a repeated high value and drives the sum region beside it at [1,1]-[2,1].

💡 Full medium answer

Place [0,0] at [0,4]=0 and [1,4]=0; [6,6] at [1,2]=6 and [1,3]=6; [6,3] at [2,1]=3 and [2,2]=6; [5,1] at [1,0]=1 and [1,1]=5; [1,0] at [2,0]=1 and [3,0]=0; [0,6] at [3,1]=0 and [3,2]=6; [4,2] at [2,3]=2 and [3,3]=4.

💡 Trust the extremes

Start with the most constrained regions: a five-cell equals column, several tiny sum regions, and two high-ceiling sum bars. Find which extreme can settle an entire bottom corner before you move upward.

💡 Anchor the bottom

The bottom pair [5,0]-[6,0] is locked to zeros. Right beside it, the triple equals at [5,1]-[6,2] then pins a matching three-cell block, which in turn feeds the high sum bar above.

💡 Feed the high bars

Once the bottom 3s are set, the high-sum regions at [3,4]-[4,4] and [4,0]-[4,1] force large matching values. Watch how the double-high domino and the mixed high-low dominoes share the load.

💡 Climb the center

The zero-sum pair at [2,0]-[3,0] makes [2,0] zero, so its domino partner [2,1] becomes 2. The sum-6 column then forces more 2s, which pushes the big equals column toward 1s. Place [1,1] at [1,2]-[2,2] and [2,1] at [3,1]-[3,2].

💡 Full hard answer

Work order: bottom zero-sum, bottom equals 3s, high sum-12s, central sum-6, big equals 1s, then leftover top and bottom-right. Place [1,3] at [0,1]=3,[0,2]=1; [0,0] at [5,0]=0,[6,0]=0; [3,2] at [1,0]=3,[1,1]=2; [1,5] at [5,3]=5,[6,3]=1; [6,6] at [3,4]=6,[4,4]=6; [2,1] at [3,1]=2,[3,2]=1; [0,4] at [1,4]=0,[2,4]=4; [3,3] at [6,1]=3,[6,2]=3; [6,0] at [4,0]=6,[3,0]=0; [2,5] at [5,4]=5,[6,4]=2; [0,1] at [0,3]=1,[0,4]=0; [3,6] at [4,1]=6,[5,1]=3; [1,1] at [1,2]=1,[2,2]=1; [2,0] at [2,0]=0,[2,1]=2.

🎨 Pips Solver

Aug 29, 2026

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✅ Final Answer & Complete Solution For Hard Level

The key to solving today's hard puzzle was identifying the placement for the critical dominoes highlighted in the starting grid. Once those were in place, the rest of the puzzle could be solved logically. See the final grid below to compare your solution.

Starting Position & Key First Steps

Pips hint for August 29, 2026 – hard level puzzle grid with critical first placements and strategy

This image shows the initial puzzle grid for the hard level, with a few critical first placements highlighted.

Final Answer: The Solved Grid for Hard Mode

NYT Pips August 29, 2026 hard puzzle full solution grid showing final answer with hints

Compare this final grid with your own solution to see the correct placement of all dominoes.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Easy Level

Step 1: Spot the singletons

The one-cell greater-than-5 regions at [0,0] and [2,3] force those cells to 6, because 6 is the only pip value above 5. The one-cell less-than-5 region at [0,3] and greater-than-4 region at [2,0] become your checks later.

Step 2: Fill the top row

With [0,0] equal to 6, the [5,6] domino supplies 5 at [0,1]. The sum-7 region [0,1]-[0,2] then forces [0,2] to be 2, and [4,2] puts 4 at [0,3], satisfying the less-than-5 cap.

Step 3: Lock the right side

The bottom-right singleton [2,3] is also 6. It pairs with [2,2] through the [6,6] domino, so [2,2] becomes 6. That makes the sum-7 region [1,2]-[2,2] force [1,2] to be 1.

Step 4: Clean up the middle

The [1,3] domino then gives [1,1]=3. The remaining sum-7 pair [1,1]-[2,1] forces [2,1]=4, and [5,4] finishes [2,0]=5 and [2,1]=4, satisfying greater-than-4.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level

Step 1: Pin the right-edge equal pair

The equal two-cell region at [0,4] and [1,4] must be a matching pair. The [0,0] domino fits that isolated vertical pair cleanly, so [0,4]=0 and [1,4]=0.

Step 2: Commit the big equal block

With the [0,0] domino spent, the large four-cell equals region at [1,2], [1,3], [2,2], and [3,2] cannot be zeros; it resolves to 6. Place [6,6] across the top of that block at [1,2]-[1,3].

Step 3: Sum-8 splits the middle

Because [2,2] is now in the big equal block, it is 6. Its domino [6,3] puts 3 at [2,1]. The sum-8 region [1,1]-[2,1] then forces [1,1]=5, and [5,1] covers [1,0]=1 and [1,1]=5.

Step 4: Left equals and bottom strip

The left equals region [1,0]-[2,0] makes [2,0]=1. Domino [1,0] covers [2,0]=1 and [3,0]=0. The bottom equals region [3,0]-[3,1] is completed by [0,6], which puts 0 at [3,1] and 6 at [3,2].

Step 5: Finish the last sum

The remaining sum-6 pair [2,3]-[3,3] uses [4,2]: [2,3]=2 and [3,3]=4.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level

Step 1: Bottom zero-sum

The region [5,0]-[6,0] must sum to zero, so both cells are 0. Use the [0,0] domino vertically there: [5,0]=0 and [6,0]=0.

Step 2: Bottom equals trio

The adjacent equals trio [5,1]-[6,2] resolves to 3. The double [3,3] fills [6,1]-[6,2], and [3,6] covers [5,1]=3 with [4,1]=6, so the whole trio equals 3.

Step 3: High sum-12 bars

Both high-sum regions force matching 6s. In the lower middle, [6,6] fills [3,4]=6 and [4,4]=6. The left high-sum region [4,0]-[4,1] is completed by [6,0] at [3,0]=0, [4,0]=6 and [3,6] at [5,1]=3, [4,1]=6.

Step 4: Sum-0 and sum-6 ladder

Since [3,0]=0, the sum-0 region [2,0]-[3,0] forces [2,0]=0. Domino [2,0] then places [2,1]=2. Domino [2,1] places [3,1]=2 and [3,2]=1. The sum-6 region [1,1]-[3,1] now has 2+2, so [1,1]=2 via [3,2] at [1,0]=3 and [1,1]=2.

Step 5: Big equals column

The five-cell equals column locks to 1. Place [1,1] at [1,2]=1 and [2,2]=1. Place [1,3] at [0,1]=3 and [0,2]=1. Place [0,1] at [0,3]=1 and [0,4]=0. This satisfies the top zero-sum and completes the equals column.

Step 6: Finish the remaining edges

Finish the top and bottom-right: [0,4] covers [1,4]=0 and [2,4]=4. Bottom right uses [1,5] at [5,3]=5 and [6,3]=1, then [2,5] at [5,4]=5 and [6,4]=2, satisfying the final sum and greater-than cell.

💡 Pro Tips for Similar Puzzles

Start with Constraints

Always begin with the most constrained regions - sum regions with small numbers or tight spaces.

Use Equal Regions

Use "equal" regions as anchors - they eliminate many possibilities quickly.

Work Systematically

Let the rules guide your placement rather than guessing randomly.

Double-Check

Verify each region's rules are satisfied before moving to the next.

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📖 More to Read

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NYT Pips Hints & Answers for August 29, 2026

🚨 SPOILER WARNING

🎲 Today's Puzzle Overview

💡 Progressive Hints

🎨 Pips Solver

✅ Final Answer & Complete Solution For Easy Level

Starting Position & Key First Steps

Final Answer: The Solved Grid for Easy Mode

✅ Final Answer & Complete Solution For Medium Level

Starting Position & Key First Steps

Final Answer: The Solved Grid for Medium Mode

✅ Final Answer & Complete Solution For Hard Level

Starting Position & Key First Steps

Final Answer: The Solved Grid for Hard Mode

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Easy Level

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level

💡 Pro Tips for Similar Puzzles

🎓 Keep Learning & Improve

🧠 Strategy Guide

🎮 How to Play

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