NYT Pips Hint, Answer & Solution for February 3, 2026

Feb 3, 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

This Tuesday, February 3, 2026, NYT Pips puts thoughtful puzzle design front and center, offering a three-puzzle set that feels carefully curated rather than routine.

Edited by Ian Livengood, the easy puzzle (ID 594) reflects his signature touch: a restrained domino set, clean equals regions, and a learning curve that eases solvers in without ever feeling dull. It’s the kind of grid where an early Pips hint can spark an “aha” moment, making it perfect for warming up or sharing a quick pips hint today with other players.

The challenge deepens with the medium (ID 622) and hard (ID 652) puzzles, both designed by Rodolfo Kurchan. These grids showcase structural confidence—layered equals regions, tightly disciplined constraints, and solution paths that unfold step by step like a logical story. Each placement feels earned, rewarding patience, pattern recognition, and careful deduction.

Taken together, this Tuesday lineup feels less like a standard daily drop and more like a small collection of handcrafted logic puzzles, each with its own personality and voice.

Dive into the NYT Pips hints, compare solving approaches, and enjoy a February puzzle session shaped by inspired constructors and thoughtful editorial vision.

Written by Ander

Puzzle Analyst – Mar

💡 Progressive Hints

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

💡 Hint #1 - So easy

Just do it

💡 Hint #1 - Track extreme pips early

Begin by identifying dominoes with extreme values such as the only 6 or the only 0. Regions with greater-than constraints depend heavily on these high pips, so knowing how many qualifying dominoes exist helps allocate them before conflicts arise.

💡 Hint #2 - Solve low-limit regions by sum filtering

For regions with a strict upper bound, list all dominoes whose total fits the limit. If only one option remains after filtering by placement and adjacency, that region becomes an early, safe anchor.

💡 Hint #3 - Fix equal regions with forced values

When an equal region intersects with greater-than or less-than constraints, the shared value is often forced. Locking that value immediately narrows choices for neighboring regions and clarifies how high or low pips must be distributed.

💡 Hint #4 - Reserve remaining high pips for > regions

As dominoes are placed, re-evaluate which high-pip pieces remain. Greater-than regions usually consume the last available large values, so confirm that these regions are satisfied before committing medium-value dominoes elsewhere.

💡 Hint #5 - Close fixed-sum regions last

Exact-sum regions with a single remaining combination are ideal endgame targets. Once surrounding regions are resolved, the remaining domino often fits uniquely, allowing a clean and confident finish.

💡 Hint #1 - Count scarce values early

Start by inventorying rare domino features such as doubles and unique pip counts. When an equal region requires matching values and only one double fits, that constraint can immediately anchor part of the grid and restrict how other equal regions must draw from different dominoes.

💡 Hint #2 - Lock forced equals first

When an equal region has only one viable value based on remaining dominoes and nearby constraints, commit it early. Resolving these forced equals simplifies the puzzle by reducing ambiguity in adjacent regions.

💡 Hint #3 - Use boundary placement to satisfy two regions

Look for dominoes that can simultaneously satisfy two neighboring regions with different rules. Placing a domino along a boundary can fulfill a greater-than condition on one side while delivering an exact value or sum on the other.

💡 Hint #4 - Resolve low-sum regions with elimination

Small target regions often rely on a limited set of pip combinations. Track how many low-value pips remain globally, then eliminate impossible distributions to determine which domino halves must belong to these regions.

💡 Hint #5 - Chain equal regions together

Multiple equal regions often form a dependency chain. Once one equal value is fixed, propagate that information forward to determine the only consistent values for connected equal regions.

💡 Hint #6 - Finish by matching leftovers to exact rules

In the late game, compare remaining dominoes against unresolved exact constraints (equals or fixed values). At this stage, process of elimination is usually enough to align each leftover domino with its only compatible region.

🎨 Pips Solver

Feb 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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: [6-6], [6-1], [6-0], [5-1], [3-0].

2

Step 2: Red Equal --(Arrows ①)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. Need one domino with the same number placed in this region. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically.

3

Step 3: Light Blue 8 + Purple 2 + Yellow Equal --(Arrows ②③④⑤)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (6-1, 6-0, 5-1, 3-0). The domino halves in Light Blue 8 region must be 3+5. The domino halves in Purple 2 region must be 1+1. The domino halves in Yellow Equal region must be 6. The answer is 3-1 (1 up into blank), placed vertically; 5-1, placed vertically; 1-6, placed vertically; 6-0 (0 left into blank), placed horizontally.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level

1

Step 1

Dominoes Include: [6-5], [5-1], [5-0], [4-4], [4-3], [3-1], [1-1]. Only one domino with 6 pips (6-5), only one domino with 0 pips (5-0). Only 3 dominoes that contain more than 4 pips (6-5, 5-1, 5-0), need one for Green >4 region, need one for Red >4 region.

2

Step 2: Blue <4 --(Arrows ①)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. Need one domino sum to be less than 4 be placed in this region. The answer is 1-1, placed vertically.

3

Step 3: Green >4 + Light Blue Equal + Purple <4 --(Arrows ②③)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and remaining dominoes. The domino halves in Light Blue Equal region must be 5. The answer is 6-5 (6 into Green >4 region), placed vertically; 5-0 (0 into Purple <4 region), placed vertically.

4

Step 4: Red >4 + Yellow Equal + Red Equal --(Arrows ④⑤⑥)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (5-1, 4-4, 4-3, 3-1). Only one domino left that contain 5 pips (5-1). The domino halves in Yellow Equal region must be 1. The domino halves in Red Equal region must be 3. The answer is 5-1 (5 into Red >4 region), placed vertically; 1-3, placed vertically; 3-4 (4 down into blank), placed vertically.

5

Step 5: Purple 4 --(Arrows ⑦)

The answer is 4-4 ( one 4s into Purple 4 region, one 4s down into blank), placed vertically.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level

1

Step 1

Dominoes Include: [6-5], [6-4], [6-1], [6-0], [5-5], [5-4], [5-1], [4-2], [4-1], [4-0], [3-2], [2-0]. Only one domino with the same number (5-5) for Top Purple Equal region, the domino halves in the other Equal region must come from different dominoes. Only one domino with 3 pips (3-2), therefore, [3-2] must placed in the boundary between Blue >2 region and Light Blue 2 region, the domino halves in Light Blue 2 region must be 2+0+0. Only 3 domino halves that contain 0 pips (6-0, 4-0, 2-0), need one for Blue 0 region, need two for Light Blue 2 region.

2

Step 2: Top Purple Equal --(Arrows ①)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. The domino halves in this region must be 5. The answer is 5-5, placed horizontally.

3

Step 3: Blue >2 --(Arrows ②)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and remaining dominoes. The answer is 3-2 (3 into Blue >2 region, 2 into Light Blue 2 region), placed horizontally.

4

Step 4: Green 1 + Red Equal + Yellow >3 --(Arrows ③④⑤⑥)

Confirmed by all left regions and step 1 and remaining dominoes. The domino halves in Bottom Red Equal region must be 6. The answer is 1-6 (1 into Green 1 region), placed horizontally; 6-0 (0 into Light Blue 2 region), placed horizontally; 4-6 (4 into Yellow >3 region), placed horizontally; 6-5 (5 into Green Equal region), placed vertically.

5

Step 5: Green Equal + Middle Purple Equal --(Arrows ⑦⑧)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 4 and remaining dominoes (5-4, 5-1, 4-2, 4-1, 4-0, 2-0). The domino halves in Green Equal region must be 5 (one 5s come from Arrows ⑥). The domino halves in Middle Purple Equal must be 4. The answer is 5-4, placed vertically; 4-0 (0 into Light Blue 2 region), placed horizontally.

6

Step 6: Blue 0 + Yellow Equal + Light Blue Equal + Top Red Equal --(Arrows ⑨⑩⑪⑫)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (5-1, 4-2, 4-1, 2-0). The domino halves in Yellow Equal region must be 2. The domino halves in Light Blue Equal Equal must be 4. The domino halves in Top Red Equal region must be 1. The answer is 0-2 (0 into Blue 0 region), placed horizontally; 2-4, placed horizontally; 4-1, placed horizontally; 1-5 (5 into Top Purple Equal region), placed horizontally.

🎥 NYT Pips February 3, 2026 – Full Solve & Pips Hints Explained (Easy 594 · Medium 622 · Hard 652)

This walkthrough breaks down the logic clearly without rushing the “aha” moments.

💡 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.

🎓 Keep Learning & Improve

🧠 Strategy Guide

Master the core techniques to solve any Pips puzzle, no matter the difficulty.

🎮 How to Play

New to Pips? Learn all the rules and conditional regions in minutes.

📖 More to Read

NYT Pips Hints & Answers for February 4, 2026

View Answer →

NYT Pips Hints & Answers for February 2, 2026

View Answer →

NYT Pips Hints & Answers for February 1, 2026

View Answer →

💬 Community Discussion

Leave your comment