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

Jan 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

Monday, January 5, 2026 opens the week with a calm but satisfying Daily Domino Puzzle challenge.

It’s a perfect Monday reset: slow down, scan the grid, and let logic guide each placement as you ease into the new puzzle day.

Today’s lineup moves smoothly from Easy to Hard, giving solvers room to warm up before diving deeper.

The Easy puzzle (ID 480) focuses on clean sum targets and equal regions, making it ideal for spotting early pips patterns and building confidence.

In the Medium puzzle (ID 482), layered constraints begin to interact, rewarding players who pause to share a pips hint today and double-check how values flow across neighboring regions.

For experienced solvers, the Hard puzzle (ID 488) is where patience truly pays off.

Here, every pip matters, and each domino placement feels earned through careful counting, comparison, and elimination.

If you enjoy analyzing grids, trading hints, and refining your logic step by step, this Monday puzzle delivers a thoughtful, engaging solution journey that’s well worth your time.

Written by Ander

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 - Observe

Dominoes Include: [6-6], [6-4], [6-2], [5-1], [2-0]. [6-6] must placed in the boundary between Blue 11 region and Yellow 12 region.

💡 Hint #1 - Map Scarce Pips Before Placing

Start with a full inventory scan. This pips hint focuses on scarcity: only four 6-pips exist, five 0-pips must feed Yellow Equal, and just two 1-pips must satisfy both Blue 1 and Purple 1. These limits define all future options.

💡 Hint #2 - Lock Equality Regions with Zeros

Equal regions often consume identical low values. This pips hint explains why Yellow Equal must be filled entirely with 0s, which simultaneously forces a 3 into Red <4 and reserves a single 6 for the Light Blue 6 region.

💡 Hint #3 - Use Elimination to Solve Equals

After clearing zeros and placing the lone 6, only one value can remain for Purple Equal. This pips hint shows how elimination alone confirms a 6-6 placement without guessing.

💡 Hint #4 - Test Sum Splits Across Linked Regions

When multiple regions are interconnected, compare possible sum decompositions. This pips hint highlights how Green 10 and Red 6 must be solved together.

💡 Hint #1 - Count the Missing 11s First

Begin by scanning all regions that sum to 11. Since no single domino equals 11, this pips hint focuses on forced pairings. With only two 6-pips available, each Light Blue 11 region must use a 6 paired with a 5 from different dominoes.

💡 Hint #2 - Reserve Scarce Zero Pips

Zero pips are limited and often gate inequality regions. This pips hint shows why one 0 must be saved for an 11-sum region, forcing the remaining 0 into the Red <1 region immediately.

💡 Hint #3 - Satisfy Small Target Regions Early

Low-number sum regions like Red 1 and Yellow 1 collapse quickly once zeros are placed. This pips hint explains how completing Red 1 forces a clean 6+5 split for the adjacent Light Blue 11 region.

💡 Hint #4 - Use Equality Regions as Anchors

Equal regions restrict flexibility and are best solved early. This pips hint highlights how locking Blue Equal to double-2 simplifies the surrounding 11-sum regions and fixes multiple placements at once.

💡 Hint #5 - Pair High Pips with Inequalities

Greater-than regions are ideal homes for doubles. This pips hint shows why placing 5-5 into Yellow >1 cleanly preserves the remaining 6 for the top Light Blue 11 without conflict.

💡 Hint #6 - Complete Remaining 11s by Elimination

Once most high pips are placed, remaining 11 regions become deterministic. This pips hint demonstrates how Purple 11 must absorb the last 3 and 4 pips while Red 1 is finalized.

💡 Hint #7 - Finish with the Forced Remainder

Endgames often solve themselves. This pips hint shows how, after all constraints are satisfied, the final unplaced domino fits only one remaining blank with no ambiguity.

🎨 Pips Solver

Jan 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 January 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 January 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: [6-6], [6-4], [6-2], [5-1], [2-0]. [6-6] must placed in the boundary between Blue 11 region and Yellow 12 region.

2

Step 2: Blue 11 + Yellow 12 + Light Blue >3 --(Arrows ①②③)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. The domino halves in Blue 11 region must be 5+6. The domino halves in Yellow 12 region must be 6+6. The answer is 1-5 (1 into blank), placed horizontally; 6-6, placed vertically; 6-4 (4 into Light Blue >3 region), placed vertically.

3

Step 3: Red Equal + Purple 6 --(Arrows ④⑤)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (6-2, 2-0). The domino halves in Red Equal region must be 2. The answer is 2-6 (6 into Purple 6 region), placed horizontally; 2-0 (0 left into blank), placed horizontally.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level

1

Step 1

Dominoes Include: [6-6], [6-1], [6-0], [4-4], [4-0], [3-0], [2-1], [0-0]. Only 4 domino halves that contain 6 pips, need one for Light Blue 6 region. Only 5 domino halves that contain 0 pips, need four for Yellow Equal region. Only 2 dominoes with 1 pips (6-1, 2-1) for Blue 1 region and Purple 1 region.

2

Step 2: Red <4 + Yellow Equal + Light Blue 6 --(Arrows ①②③)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. The domino halves in Yellow Equal region must be 0. The domino halves in Red <4 region must be 3. The answer is 3-0, placed vertically; 0-6 (6 into Light Blue 6 region), placed horizontally; 0-0, placed horizontally.

3

Step 3: Purple Equal --(Arrows ④)

Confirmed by all left regions and remaining dominoes (6-6, 6-1, 4-4, 4-0, 2-1). The domino halves in this region must be 6. The answer is 6-6 (whole domino), placed horizontally.

4

Step 4: Blue 1 + Green 10 + Purple 1 + Red 6 --(Arrows ⑤⑥⑦⑧)

Confirmed by all left regions and remaining dominoes (6-1, 4-4, 4-0, 2-1). If Green 10 = 2+4+4, then Red 6 = 6+0; if Green 10 = 6+0+4, then Red 6 = 2+4. e.g: The domino halves in Green 10 region must be 2+4+4, the domino halves in Red 6 region must be 6+0. The answer is 1-2 (1 into Blue 1 region), placed horizontally; 4-4 (whole domino), placed horizontally; 1-6 (1 into Purple 1 region), placed vertically; 0-4 (4 left into blank), placed horizontally.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level

1

Step 1

Dominoes Include: [6-1], [6-0], [5-5], [5-2], [5-1], [4-4], [3-3], [3-1], [2-2], [1-1], [1-0]. Only 2 domino halves that contain 6 pips for Light Blue 11 regions. No domino sum to be 11, so the domino halves in light Blue regions must be 5+6 and come from two different dominoes.

2

Step 2: Red <1 --(Arrows ①)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. Only 2 dominoes with 0 pips (6-0, 1-0), [6-0] is required for Light Blue 11 regions. Therefore, the answer is 0-1 (0 into Red <1 region, 1 down into blank), placed vertically.

3

Step 3: Red 1 + Bottom Light Blue 11 + Yellow 1 --(Arrows ②③)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 2 and remaining dominoes. The domino halves in Red 1 region must be 0+1. The domino halves in Bottom Light Blue 11 region must be 6+5. The answer is 0-6 (0 into Red 1 region), placed horizontally; 5-1 (1 into Yellow 1 region), placed horizontally.

4

Step 4: Blue Equal + Green 11 --(Arrows ④⑤⑥)

Confirmed by all left regions and relative position and remaining dominoes (6-1, 5-5, 5-2, 4-4, 3-3, 3-1, 2-2, 1-1). Need one domino with the same number placed in Blue Equal region, two whole dominoes placed in Green 11 region and Purple 11 region. Therefore, the domino halves in Blue Equal region must be 2, the domino halves in Green 11 region must be 5+3+3. The answer is 2-2, placed vertically; 2-5, placed horizontally; 3-3, placed vertically.

5

Step 5: Yellow >1 + Top Light Blue 11 --(Arrows ⑦⑧)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (6-1, 5-5, 4-4, 3-1, 1-1). The domino halves in Top Light Blue 11 region must be 6+5. The answer is 5-5 (5 into Yellow >1 region), placed vertically; 6-1 (1 right into blank), placed horizontally.

6

Step 6: Red 1 + Purple 11 --(Arrows ⑨⑩)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (4-4, 3-1, 1-1). The domino halves in Red 1 region must be 0+1 (0s already come from step 3). The domino halves in Purple 11 must be 3+4+4. The answer is 1-3 (1 into Red 1 region), placed vertically; 4-4, placed vertically.

7

Step 7: Blank --(Arrows ⑪)

The answer is 1-1, placed vertically.

🎥 NYT Pips Puzzle Solution – Monday, January 5, 2026 | Step-by-Step Domino Logic Breakdown

Perfect for players who want deeper insight, smarter hints, and a smoother path to mastering the daily Pips puzzle.

💡 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

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