NYT Pips Hint, Answer & Solution for January 19, 2026

Jan 19, 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

On Monday, January 19, 2026, NYT Pips invites the community into a compact yet deeply satisfying logic puzzle session—an ideal setup for sharing ideas, comparing approaches, and enjoying thoughtful problem-solving together.

As the third Monday of January, the day also coincides with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, making it a fitting moment to slow down, reflect, and engage in a calm, focused mental challenge.

Edited by Ian Livengood, today’s puzzle set flows smoothly across Easy, Medium, and Hard, creating a natural learning curve.

The structure encourages solvers to exchange Pips Hint insights, double-check assumptions, and savor that shared “aha” moment when a tricky region finally clicks.

The Easy puzzle (ID 514) works as a friendly warm-up, using clean sum regions and a minimal domino set to build confidence and momentum.

The Medium puzzle (ID 537) deepens the challenge with multiple equals regions, rewarding careful collaboration, pip counting, and forward planning.

At the top end, the Hard puzzle (ID 561)—constructed by Rodolfo Kurchan—asks the community to slow down and think deliberately, making each pips hint today feel earned as solutions are refined step by step.

Whether you’re solving together, exchanging hints, or posting a full solution breakdown, January 19, 2026 stands out as a strong NYT Pips day to connect with fellow fans and enjoy logic at its most social.

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 - So easy

Just do it

💡 Hint #1 - Scan for immediate equals constraints

Begin by checking equal regions. When only one domino can supply matching halves, that value becomes fixed early and sharply limits the remaining placements.

💡 Hint #2 - Anchor large inequalities with forced equals

Once an equal region is resolved, use it to satisfy nearby inequality regions. A forced low-value equal often pushes its partner pip into a high-value region like >4.

💡 Hint #3 - Let remaining pip counts define equals

After early placements, recount the leftover pips. If only one value can still appear twice, that value must fill the next equal region, simplifying adjacent sums.

💡 Hint #4 - Resolve multiple regions in a single sweep

When sums, equals, and remaining dominoes converge, place dominoes that satisfy several regions at once. This efficiently locks light-blue sums, equal zones, and larger totals together.

💡 Hint #1 - Start with high-pip scarcity

Count the rarest pips first. With only three 6s available and a large Light Blue 12 region demanding two of them, those 6s are effectively reserved and immediately shape the rest of the grid.

💡 Hint #2 - Exploit impossible sums

When a target sum like 10 cannot be formed by a single domino, it forces the region to split across multiple pieces. This turns the Red 10 region into a fixed 5+5 structure and locks orientation early.

💡 Hint #3 - Resolve equals regions by elimination

For equal regions, test which pip values can realistically fill them given remaining dominoes. Here, eliminating 2s in other regions forces Green Equal to be 0, collapsing several placements at once.

💡 Hint #4 - Use forced leftovers to finish fixed totals

Once a region like Yellow 4 has limited candidates left, break the total into repeated small values. Tracking already-used pips reveals when a sum must be all 1s.

💡 Hint #5 - Chain equals into large sums

Equal regions often feed directly into big totals. After Red Equal resolves to 2s, the Light Blue 12 region becomes a clean 6+6, using the last high pips efficiently.

💡 Hint #6 - Clear medium sums with remaining uniques

After major constraints are placed, mid-range sums like 7 usually have only one valid domino left. Spotting these clears space and reduces board noise.

💡 Hint #7 - Finish tiny targets with leftovers

Small target regions near the end, such as Purple 1, are typically solved by leftover extremes. Match the only possible low pip with its remaining partner.

💡 Hint #8 - Close by satisfying the final composite sum

The last unresolved sum often becomes obvious once all other regions are fixed. Place the remaining domino to complete the target without violating earlier constraints.

🎨 Pips Solver

Jan 19, 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 January 19, 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 January 19, 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: [4-2], [3-3], [2-0], [1-1].

2

Step 2: Red 7 + Light Blue 4 + Purple 3 --(Arrows ①②③④)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. The domino halves in Red 7 region must be 4+3. The domino halves in Light Blue 4 region must be 3+1. The domino halves in Purple 3 region must be 1+2. The answer is 2-4 (2 into blank), placed vertically; 3-3, placed vertically; 1-1, placed horizontally; 2-0 (0 into blank), placed horizontally.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level

1

Step 1

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

2

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

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. Need one domino with the same number placed in Red Equal region, the domino halves in Red Equal region must be 1. The answer is 1-1, placed vertically; 1-5 (5 into Purple >4 region), placed vertically.

3

Step 3: Yellow 1 + Green Equal --(Arrows ③④)

Confirmed by all left regions and relative position and remaining dominoes (6-5, 6-3, 5-3, 4-1, 3-1). The domino halves in Green Equal region must be 3. The answer is 1-3 (1 into Yellow 1 region), placed vertically; 3-5 (5 up into blank), placed vertically.

4

Step 4: Light Blue 3 + Blue Equal + Purple 9 --(Arrows ⑤⑥⑦)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (6-5, 6-3, 4-1). The domino halves in Blue Equal region must be 6. The domino halves in Purple 9 region must be 5+4. The answer is 3-6 (3 into Light Blue 3 region), placed vertically; 6-5, placed vertically; 4-1 (4 up into blank), placed vertically.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level

1

Step 1

Dominoes Include: [6-5], [6-2], [6-0], [5-3], [5-1], [4-3], [2-2], [2-1], [2-0], [1-1], [1-0], [0-0]. Only 3 domino halves that contain 6 pips (6-5, 6-2, 6-0), need two for Light Blue 12 region.

2

Step 2: Light Blue >4 + Red 10 --(Arrows ①)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. No domino sum to be 10, so the domino halves in Red 10 region must be come from two different dominoes and placed horizontally. Therefore, the domino halves in Red 10 region must be 5+5. The answer is 6-5 (6 into Light Blue >4 region), placed horizontally.

3

Step 3: Green Equal + Purple 2 --(Arrows ②③④)

Confirmed by all left regions and remaining dominoes. Need one domino with the same number placed vertically in Green Equal region, the domino halves that contain 2 pips (6-2, 2-2, 2-1, 2-0). Therefore, the domino halves in Green Equal region must be 0. The answer is 0-0, placed vertically; 0-2 (2 into Purple 2 region), placed horizontally; 0-1 (1 into Yellow 4 region), placed horizontally.

4

Step 4: Yellow 4 --(Arrows ⑤⑥)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 3 and remaining dominoes (6-2, 6-0, 5-3, 5-1, 4-3, 2-2, 2-1, 1-1). The domino halves in Yellow 4 region must be 1+1+1+1 (one 1s already come from Arrows ④). The answer is 1-1, placed vertically; 1-2 (2 into Red Equal region), placed vertically.

5

Step 5: Red Equal + Light Blue 12 --(Arrows ⑦⑧⑨)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 4 and remaining dominoes (6-2, 6-0, 5-3, 5-1, 4-3, 2-2). The domino halves in Red Equal region must be 2 (one 2s already come from Arrows ⑥). The domino halves in Light Blue 12 region must be 6+6. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally; 2-2, placed vertically; 6-0 (0 down into blank), placed vertically.

6

Step 6: Blue 7 --(Arrows ⑩)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (5-3, 5-1, 4-3). The answer is 4-3 (whole domino into Blue 7 region), placed horizontally.

7

Step 7: Purple 1 --(Arrows ⑪)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (5-3, 5-1). The answer is 1-5 (1 into Purple 1 region, 5 down into blank), placed vertically.

8

Step 8: Red 10 --(Arrows ⑫)

The answer is 5-3 (5 into Red 10 region, 3 right into blank), placed horizontally.

🎥 NYT Pips Solution – January 19, 2026 (Mon) | Community-Friendly Logic, Smart Pips Hints & Full Breakdown

This breakdown is built to help you solve smarter and faster.

💡 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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