NYT Pips Hint, Answer & Solution for February 14, 2026

Feb 14, 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!

Click here to play today's official NYT Pips game first.

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

🎲 Today's Puzzle Overview

NYT Pips for Saturday, February 14, 2026 is a perfect Valentine’s Day logic warm-up: clean grids, sharp equals regions, and domino pools that punish careless counting.

Today’s set is edited by Ian Livengood, featuring Easy ID 585, Medium ID 612, and Hard ID 638 — a smooth difficulty climb that rewards players who track repeated numbers, spot forced sums early, and use empty cells as placement pivots. If you’re looking for a pips hint today, this is absolutely a “count first, place second” kind of puzzle day.

Whether you want a quick NYT Pips solution, a step-by-step breakdown, or strategic hints for each difficulty, February 14 delivers a satisfying mix of equals chains and sum traps that make every placement feel earned.

Happy Valentine’s Day, and good luck keeping your pip counts under control. 😉

Written by Anna

Puzzle Analyst – Lucas

💡 Progressive Hints

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

💡 Hint #1 - Nice and easy

Just do it

💡 Hint #1 - Start With Equals Value Range: Split the Pool Into High vs Low

The fastest Pips Hint here is recognizing the equals regions are already pre-filtered by the domino set. Yellow Equal and Blue Equal can only be 4 or 5, while Red Equal and Purple Equal can only be 0 or 1. This instantly narrows the search space and prevents random trial placements.

💡 Hint #2 - Use the >4 Region to Force a Single High Pip Placement

Because Light Blue >4 must contain a 5, the only safe move is to push a 5 into that zone. That immediately forces Purple Equal to become 1, since the remaining half must match the equal rule. This is a clean anchor deduction: one inequality region locks an entire equals region.

💡 Hint #3 - Trigger the Zero Lock: Red Equal Becomes 0 and Collapses Yellow Equal

After the 1s are consumed, the remaining low-value options force Red Equal to be 0. Once that happens, Yellow Equal cannot be 5 anymore due to tile availability and adjacency, so it collapses to 4. This is a classic pips hint today move: let the missing low pips decide the equals zones.

💡 Hint #4 - Finish With Remaining Maximum: Blue Equal Must Be 5

With Yellow Equal already fixed at 4 and the low-value equals zones resolved, the only consistent value left for Blue Equal is 5. That forces 5-5 to land cleanly, and the leftover 2 from 5-2 naturally drops into the remaining blank. Endgame strategy: equals zones always resolve once one candidate value is eliminated.

💡 Hint #1 - Start With Scarcity: Zero Pips and Missing Sums

Before placing anything, scan the domino pool for missing totals and rare pips. Here, 0-pip halves are extremely limited, and no domino can make a sum of 10 naturally, meaning any region demanding high totals will force double-5 logic later. This is the classic Pips Hint move: identify what the set cannot do, and the grid will collapse faster.

💡 Hint #2 - Lock the Red 1 Region by Forcing the Only Possible 0+0+0+1 Pattern

The Red 1 region is instantly solvable because it requires 0+0+0+1. Since only a few 0 halves exist and 1-pip dominoes are limited, the placements become forced. Use this as an anchor step: once the zeros are committed, nearby blanks reveal orientation and eliminate alternative placements.

💡 Hint #3 - Solve the 10-Sum Trap: Turn Light Blue 10 into a 5+5 Deduction

Light Blue 10 cannot be built from mixed values because the pool lacks a natural 10-sum domino. That means the region must become 5+5, and once one 5 is already used, the remaining 5 forces the only available 5-domino. This immediately determines the Blue Equal region as well, making this the strongest domino-chain deduction of the puzzle.

💡 Hint #4 - Use the Only High Tile: Place 6-6 to Control the Board

With most mid-value dominoes still flexible, the 6-6 tile becomes a control piece. The Purple 6 region forces it, and the leftover 6 half spilling into a blank cell becomes a directional constraint. In NYT Pips logic, placing the maximum tile early often prevents wasted branching.

💡 Hint #5 - Finish With Equals Cascades: Convert Remaining Tiles Into Forced Regions

Once the big anchors are placed, the remaining dominoes naturally collapse into equals logic. Green Equal is forced to 4, Yellow Equal is forced to 3, and Purple 2 must be 1+1. This is the endgame Pips Hint: when only one pip value can satisfy an equals zone, the rest of the board solves itself in a clean cascade.

🎨 Pips Solver

Feb 14, 2026

Click a domino to place it on the board. You can also click the board, and the correct domino will appear.

✅ 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 February 14, 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 February 14, 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

1

Step 1

Dominoes Include: [6-3], [5-4], [5-1], [4-2], [1-1].

2

Step 2: Purple Equal --(Arrows ①②)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. Need one domino with the same number placed in this region, the domino halves in this region must be 1. The answer is 1-1, placed vertically; 1-5 (5 down into blank), placed vertically.

3

Step 3: Red 5 + Light Blue Equal + Yellow 5 --(Arrows ③④⑤)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (6-3, 5-4, 4-2). The domino halves in Light Blue Equal region must be 4. The domino halves in Yellow 5 region must be 2+3. The answer is 5-4 (5 into Red 5 region), placed vertically; 4-2, placed vertically; 3-6 (6 down into blank), placed vertically.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level

1

Step 1

Dominoes Include: [5-5], [5-2], [5-1], [4-4], [4-1], [4-0], [3-0]]. The domino halves in Yellow Equal region and Blue Equla region must be 4 or 5. The domino halves in Red Equal region and Purple Equal region must be 0 or 1.

2

Step 2: Light Blue >4 + Purple Equal --(Arrows ①②)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. The domino halves in Purple Equal region must be 1. The answer is 5-1 (5 into Light Blue >4 region), placed vertically; 1-4 (4 left into blank), placed horizontally.

3

Step 3: Red Equal + Yellow Equal --(Arrows ③④⑤)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (5-5, 5-2, 4-4, 4-0, 3-0). The domino halves in Red Equal region must be 0. The domino halves in Yellow Equal region must be 4. The answer is 3-0 (3 into blank), placed horizontally; 0-4, placed vertically; 4-4, placed horizontally.

4

Step 4: Blue Equal --(Arrows ⑥⑦)

The domino halves in this region must be 5. The answer is 5-5, placed horizontally; 5-2 (2 into blank), placed vertically.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level

1

Step 1

Dominoes Include: [6-6], [5-2], [5-1], [4-4], [4-3], [4-2], [4-1], [3-3], [2-2], [2- 0], [1-1], [0-0]. Only 3 domino halves that contain 0 pips (2-0, 0-0). No domino sum to be 10.

2

Step 2: Red 1 --(Arrows ①②③)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. The domino halves in this region must be 0+0+0+1. The dominoes with 1 pips (5-1, 4-1, 1-1). Therefore, the answer is 0-0, placed vertically; 0-2 (2 right into blank), placed horizontally; 1-5 (5 into Light Blue 10 region), placed horizontally.

3

Step 3: Light Blue 10 + Blue Equal + Light Blue 4 + Red 1 --(Arrows ④⑤⑥)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 2 and remaining dominoes. The domino halves in Light Blue 10 region must be 5+5 (one 5s already come from Arrows ③). Only one domino left that contain 5 pips (5-2), therefore, the domino halves in Blue Equal region must be 2. The answer is 5-2, placed vertically; 2-2, placed horizontally; 4-1, placed horizontally.

4

Step 4: Purple 6 --(Arrows ⑦)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (6-6, 4-4, 4-3, 4-2, 3-3, 1-1). The answer is 6-6 (one 6s left into blank), placed horizontally.

5

Step 5: Green Equal + Yellow Equal + Purple 2 --(Arrows ⑧⑨⑩⑪⑫)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (4-4, 4-3, 4-2, 3-3, 1-1). The domino halves in Green Equal must be 4. The domino halves in Yellow Equal must be 3. The domino halves in Purple 2 region must be 1+1. The answer is 4-4, placed horizontally; 4-3, placed vertically; 4-2 (2 up into blank), placed vertically; 3-3, placed horizontally; 1-1, placed horizontally.

🎥 2026-02-14｜Saturday｜Valentine’s Day Special

Watch to the end for the full Hard 638 solution path and the cleanest placement order.

💡 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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