NYT Pips Hint, Answer & Solution for February 5, 2026

Feb 5, 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

Thursday, February 5, 2026 brings a sharp and satisfying NYT Pips lineup—perfect for slowing down, thinking clearly, and sharing quick deductions with other solvers.

Edited by Ian Livengood, today’s three-puzzle sequence feels especially well-balanced: it starts light, builds structure in the middle, and finishes with a hard puzzle that rewards disciplined tracking instead of guesswork.

🟢 Easy Puzzle (ID 602) — Ian Livengood

This one is a clean logic warm-up with a compact domino set and tight equals regions.

It’s the kind of grid where a single early observation can instantly become a strong Pips hint today, especially once you start counting which values can realistically repeat.

🟡 Medium Puzzle (ID 629) — Ian Livengood

The difficulty steps up smoothly here. With multiple sum targets—including 2, 7, 8, and 10—you’re forced to play “domino bookkeeping” and track what numbers are disappearing from the pool.

If you like solving by elimination and building certainty layer by layer, this puzzle is a great training ground for stronger NYT Pips strategy.

🔴 Hard Puzzle (ID 655) — Rodolfo Kurchan

This is where the set turns into a true logic workout. The dense network of equals regions creates constant pressure, and the high-value target like 18 acts as an anchor that can unlock huge chain reactions once you commit to the right placement.

A wrong assumption here snowballs fast—so this is a perfect puzzle for players who enjoy careful, methodical solving.

If you’re searching for NYT Pips hints, a clear walkthrough, or a full NYT Pips solution for February 5, 2026, today’s lineup delivers a satisfying mix of speed, structure, and deep logic payoff.

Happy Thursday—and good luck hunting that first breakthrough Pips hint!

Written by Joe

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 - Inventory Scan: Track Rare Numbers Early

Begin by scanning the domino set for scarce pips. With only two available 4-halves (6-4 and 4-2), any region involving 4 becomes highly restrictive. A strong pips hint today is to mark rare digits immediately, because they often define the puzzle’s forced placements.

💡 Hint #2 - Use Missing Domino Pairs to Force Equals

If a required combination doesn’t exist in the domino pool (like no 4-3), use that absence to lock equal regions. Here, Green Equal can’t be 3 or 4-related, so it collapses into 2-based logic. This is a classic NYT Pips strategy: what’s missing is often more important than what’s present.

💡 Hint #3 - High Target Sums Usually Have Only One Build

When a sum target is near the maximum possible, check for the only realistic pairing. Purple 10 almost always forces 6+4 if both are available. This pips hint is simple but powerful: extreme sums are usually unique, so solve them before touching flexible regions.

💡 Hint #4 - Solve Multiple Regions by Locking One Sum First

In the mid-game, focus on a single forced sum (like Red 7 needing 6+1), then let that placement ripple into nearby regions such as Purple 2, Red 8, and Light Blue >1. A reliable NYT Pips hint today is to prioritize placements that satisfy multiple region rules at once, creating a chain reaction instead of isolated progress.

💡 Hint #1 - Spot the Rare High Pips First

Start by scanning the domino inventory for rare high-value pips. With only three total 6-halves available, any large-sum region like Purple 18 is almost guaranteed to consume them. This is a classic NYT Pips hint today: identify the limited numbers first, because they usually dictate the entire puzzle structure.

💡 Hint #2 - Max-Sum Regions Create Instant Anchors

Lock down forced totals immediately. Since Purple 18 must be built from three halves and the only way to reach 18 is 6+6+6, the placement becomes deterministic. When a sum region equals the maximum possible value, treat it as an instant anchor.

💡 Hint #3 - Chain Equal Regions Into a Domino Trap

Use chained region logic to solve multiple constraints at once. Equal regions are powerful because they force repeated digits, so combine them with remaining domino availability to eliminate options quickly. A strong pips hint here is to search for a domino that must sit on a boundary because it contains two critical values needed by two different region types.

💡 Hint #4 - Use Remaining Doubles to Auto-Solve Equals

When an equal region still needs a matching pair, check what identical-number dominoes are left. If only one double remains (like 1-1), it becomes an automatic placement. This is a reliable NYT Pips strategy: leftover doubles often solve equal zones instantly.

💡 Hint #5 - Close the Puzzle by Forcing the Last Overlaps

Finish by resolving the last forced values through overlap. If an equal region already contains one confirmed number (like a 0), the rest of that region becomes fixed, which then locks nearby sum targets such as Blue 5 and Yellow 5. Endgame Pips hint: treat remaining dominoes like a checklist—every placement should satisfy multiple regions at once.

🎨 Pips Solver

Feb 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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: [5-4], [5-2], [5-1], [3-0], [1-0].

2

Step 2: Purple <2 + Red Equal + Light Blue >2 --(Arrows ①②③)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. The domino halves in Red Equal region must be 5. The answer is 1-5 (1 into Purple <2 region), placed horizontally; 5-4 (4 into Light Blue >2 region), placed vertically; 5-2 (2 into Blue 5 region), placed vertically.

3

Step 3: Blue 5 + Yellow Equal --(Arrows ④⑤)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (3-0, 1-0). The domino halves in Blue 5 region must be 2+3 (2s already come from Arrows ③). The domino halves in Yellow Equal must be 0. The answer is 3-0, placed horizontally; 0-1 (1 up into blank), placed vertically.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level

1

Step 1

Dominoes Include: [6-4], [6-2], [6-0], [5-3], [4-2], [3-2], [2-2], [2-1]. Only 2 dominoes with 4 pips (6-4, 4-2).

2

Step 2: Light Blue 4 + Yellow 3 + Green Equal --(Arrows ①②)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. No domino with the number 4-3, so the domino halves in Green Equal region must be 2. The answer is 4-2, placed vertically; 3-2, placed vertically.

3

Step 3: Purple 10 + Blue 2 --(Arrows ③④)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes. The domino halves in Purple 10 region must be 6+4. The answer is 6-2, placed vertically; 4-6 (6 up into blank), placed vertically.

4

Step 4: Red 7 + Purple 2 + Red 8 + Light Blue >1 --(Arrows ⑤⑥⑦⑧)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (6-0, 5-3, 2-2, 2-1). The domino halves in Red 7 region must be 1+6. The domino halves in Red 8 must be 3+5. The answer is 1-2 (2 into Purple 2 region), placed vertically; 6-0 (0 up into blank), placed vertically; 3-5 (whole domino into Red 8 region), placed vertically; 2-2 (one 2s into Light Blue >1 region, one 2s up into blank), placed vertically.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level

1

Step 1

Dominoes Include: [6-6], [6-0], [5-4], [5-2], [5-1], [5-0], [4-3], [4-2], [4-0], [3-3], [3-0], [1-1]. Only 3 domino halves that contain 6 pips (6-6, 6-0) for Purple 18 region. Only 4 domino halves that contain 5 pips, need two for Yellow 5 region and Red 5 region, need two for Yellow 10 region.

2

Step 2: Purple 18 --(Arrows ①②)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. The domino halves in Purple 18 region must be 6+6+6. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically; 6-0 (0 into Red Equal region), placed horizontally.

3

Step 3: Bottom Light Blue Equal + Blue Equal + Yellow 10 + Green Equal + Purple Equal + Red 5 --(Arrows ③④⑤⑥⑦⑧⑨)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes. The domino with 4 pips (5-1, 4-3, 4-2, 4-0), the domino with 3 pips (4-3, 3-3, 3-0), therefore, [4-3] must placed in the boundary between Purple Equal region and Bottom Light Blue Equal region, [3-3] must placed in Bottom Light Blue Equal region. The domino halves in Bottom Light Blue Equal region must be 3. The domino halves in Blue Equal region must be 0. The domino halves in Yellow 10 region must be 5+5. The domino halves in Green Equal region must be 2. The domino halves in Purple Equal region must be 4. The answer is 3-4, placed vertically; 3-3, placed horizontally; 3-0, placed vertically; 0-5, placed horizontally; 5-2, placed vertically; 2-4, placed horizontally; 4-5 (5 into Red 5 region), placed horizontally

4

Step 4: Top Light Blue Equal--(Arrows ⑩)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (5-1, 4-0, 1-1). Need one domino with the same number placed in this region. The answer is 1-1, placed horizontally.

5

Step 5: Red Equal + Blue 5 + Yellow 5 --(Arrows ⑪⑫)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (5-1, 4-0). The domino halves in Red Equal must be 0 (one 0s already come from Arrows ②). The domino halves in Blue 5 region must be 4+1. The answer is 0-4, placed vertically; 1-5 (5 into Yellow 5 region), placed horizontally.

🎥 NYT Pips February 5, 2026 (Thursday) — Full Walkthrough + Pips Hints Today (Easy 602 / Medium 629 / Hard 655)

Drop your own solving path in the comments—did you crack Hard 655 early, or did the equals regions slow you down?

💡 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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