NYT Pips Hint, Answer & Solution for January 31, 2026

Jan 31, 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

Saturday, January 31, 2026 wraps up the month with a thoughtful NYT Pips puzzle set that’s perfect for slowing down, sharpening your logic, and solving together with the community.

Edited by Ian Livengood, today’s lineup feels intentionally paced and very approachable.

The easy puzzle (ID 510) by Ian Livengood leans heavily into zero-based dominoes, making it an excellent warm-up for spotting fast eliminations and sharing your first Pips hint today with others.

The medium puzzle (ID 534) by Rodolfo Kurchan raises the stakes with clean sum targets and carefully placed equal regions. This grid rewards patience, cross-checking, and collaborative discussion—ideal for comparing solution paths and mid-game hints.

Rounding out the set, the hard puzzle (ID 556), also by Rodolfo Kurchan, delivers a satisfying end-of-week challenge. Layered constraints, longer logic chains, and tightly linked regions create those classic “aha” moments that make Pips solutions so memorable.

As the final Saturday of January, this NYT Pips set is a great chance to reflect, experiment, and trade strategies.

Share your Pips hints, discuss the solution logic, and enjoy a puzzle day that’s built for conversation, clarity, and discovery.

Written by Joy

Puzzle Analyst – Nikki

💡 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 - List All Feasible Splits for Fixed Numbers

When a region specifies an exact number, immediately enumerate all possible pip combinations that can form it using the available dominoes. Narrowing the region to just a few viable splits (like 2+2 or 1+3) sets up strong constraints for later steps.

💡 Hint #2 - Solve Interconnected Sum Regions Together

Adjacent fixed-sum regions should be analyzed as a group rather than in isolation. Let shared edges and relative positions eliminate incompatible splits until each region has a single consistent pair.

💡 Hint #3 - Reserve Doubles for Equal Regions

Equal regions strongly favor doubles. When only one remaining double matches the scale of an equal region, lock it in early to simplify nearby greater-than comparisons.

💡 Hint #4 - Use Inequalities to Place the Largest Remaining Pip

For greater-than regions, identify where the largest unused pip must go. Inequality constraints often force high-value pips into specific regions once equal regions are resolved.

💡 Hint #1 - Track Rare Pips Before Placing

Start by counting scarce pips like 4s and 6s across all dominoes. When certain pips cannot appear in equal regions, it sharply limits which dominoes can fill high-sum areas like the Purple 12 region.

💡 Hint #2 - Anchor Large Sum Regions Early

For large fixed-sum regions, lock in unavoidable dominoes first. Placing the only viable high-value or low-value pairs early stabilizes the region and prevents impossible leftovers later.

💡 Hint #3 - Save the Last Equal Pair

When only one identical-number domino remains, reserve it for the equal region immediately. This clears uncertainty and unlocks surrounding greater-than constraints.

💡 Hint #4 - Use Single-Pip Forcing Moves

If only one domino contains a required pip for a region, treat it as forced. Let that placement cascade into equal regions and connected sums to narrow the grid quickly.

💡 Hint #5 - Resolve Equals to Free Inequalities

Once an equal region is fixed, use it to satisfy nearby greater-than conditions. Matching equals first often reveals which side of each inequality must take the higher or lower pip.

🎨 Pips Solver

Jan 31, 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 31, 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 31, 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: [6-0], [5-0], [4-0], [3-0], [2-0], [1-0], [0-0].

2

Step 2: Blue 0 + Yellow >5 + Light Blue 0 + Purple 1 --(Arrows ①②)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. The answer is 0-6 (6 into Yellow >5 region), placed vertically; 0-1, placed vertically.

3

Step 3: Light Blue 0 + Purple 2 --(Arrows ③)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes. The answer is 0-2, placed vertically.

4

Step 4: Red 0 --(Arrows ④)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes. Need one domino sum to be 0 placed in this region. The answer is 0-0, placed vertically.

5

Step 5: Green 0 + Yelllow <4 + Blue 0 + Red <5 --(Arrows ⑤⑥)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (5-0, 4-0, 3-0). The answer is 0-3 (3 into Yelllow <4 region), placed vertically; 0-4 (4 into Red <5 region), placed vertically.

6

Step 6: Red --(Arrows ⑦)

The answer is 0-5 (0 into Red 0 region, 5 up into blank), placed vertically.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level

1

Step 1

Dominoes Include: [6-5], [6-4], [6-1], [5-5], [4-2], [3-2], [3-1]. The domino halves in Number 4 region must be 2+2 or 1+3.

2

Step 2: Yellow 10 + Red 4 + Purple 4 + Green 7 --(Arrows ①②③④)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. The domino halves in Yellow 10 region must be 6+4. The domino halves in Red 4 region must be 2+2. The domino halves in Purple 4 region must be 3+1. The domino halves in Green 7 region must be 4+3. The answer is 4-6 (4 into Green 7 region), placed horizontally; 4-2, placed vertically; 2-3, placed horizontally; 1-3 (3 into Green 7 region), placed vertically.

3

Step 3: Light Blue >3 + Blue Equal --(Arrows ⑤⑥)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (6-5, 6-1, 5-5). The domino halves in Blue Equal must be 5. The answer is 6-5 (6 into Light Blue >3 region), placed vertically; 5-5, placed horizontally.

4

Step 4: Purple >2 --(Arrows ⑦)

The answer is 1-6 (6 into Purple >2 region), placed horizontally.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level

1

Step 1

Dominoes Include: [6-5], [6-3], [6-2], [6-0], [5-3], [5-2], [5-1], [5-0], [4-4], [4-3], [3-3], [2-2]. Need two whole dominoes placed in Purple 12 region. Only 3 domino halves that contain 4 pips (4-4, 4-3), 4 pips can't placed in Equal regions. Only 4 domino halves that contain 6 pips (6-5, 6-3, 6-2, 6-0) for one of Equal regions.

2

Step 2: Purple 12 --(Arrows ①②)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. [4-4] must placed in this region, therefore, the smallest domino sum to be 4 (2-2) must also placed in this region. The domino halves in this region must be 4+4+2+2+0. The answer is 4-4, placed vertically; 2-2, placed horizontally.

3

Step 3: Light Blue Equal + Red >4 --(Arrows ③④⑤)

Confirmed by all left regions and step 1 and remaining dominoes. Only one domino left that with the same number (3-3), therefore, the domino halves in Light Blue Equal must be 3. The answer is 3-3, placed horizontally; 3-4 (4 right into blank), placed horizontally; 3-5 (5 into Red >4 region), placed vertically.

4

Step 4: Green 3 + Yellow Equal --(Arrows ⑥⑦⑧⑨)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (6-5, 6-3, 6-2, 6-0, 5-2, 5-1, 5-0). Only one domino left that contain 3 pips (6-3). The domino halves in Yellow Equal must be 6. The answer is 3-6 (3 into Green 3 region), placed horizontally; 6-0 (0 into Purple 12 region), placed vertically; 6-5 (5 into Purple Equal region), placed horizontally; 6-2 (2 down into blank), placed vertically.

5

Step 5: Purple Equal + Red >1 + Blue >0 --(Arrows ⑩⑪⑫)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (5-2, 5-1, 5-0). The domino halves in Purple Equal must be 5 (one 5s already come from Arrows ⑧). The answer is 5-2 (2 into Red >1 region), placed horizontally; 5-1 (1 into Blue >0 region), placed vertically; 5-0 (0 down into blank), placed vertically.

🎥 NYT Pips January 31, 2026 | Saturday Logic Breakdown & Pips Hints That Actually Help

In this video, we focus on strategy, logic flow, and decision-making.

💡 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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