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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!
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🎲 Today's Puzzle Overview
The easy board greets you with two gifts: a one-cell sum square in the top-right corner and another in the bottom-left, each of which spells out its own answer before you have looked at a single tile. Ian Livengood then keeps you on one continuous ribbon — a two-cell sum feeding a three-cell column, with a greater-than square waiting at the end for its high pip — so today's NYT Pips easy feels less like deduction and more like following a trail of breadcrumbs. Five tiles, one tidy loop, and a matching pair that clicks into place right at the hinge of the board. Rodolfo Kurchan's medium is a different animal: it asks you to read structure before numbers. The all-equal block is the loudest thing on the grid — four cells that must agree, which means you are hunting a value that can appear four times rather than a value that adds up. Beside it a zero-sum square hands you a pip for nothing, and the mismatched trio on the right refuses to resolve until you have counted what is left in the tray. Expect to hop back and forth between the block and the right-hand column, checking that the less-than pair stays low and the greater-than square stays high. The hard grid is a wall of tiny targets: thirty-one regions, most of them a single cell, plus one lone two-cell sum near the top-left and five unconstrained squares. That makes it an inventory puzzle more than a geometry puzzle — you count which pips are still unused, then match each target against the cells next door. The zero targets are what break it open, and the single 6 hiding in the tray is the lodestar; pin it and whole corner-to-corner sweeps unroll with almost no branching. Bring a pencil.
💡 Progressive Hints
Try these hints one at a time. Each hint becomes more specific to help you solve it yourself!
💡 Read the one-cell sums first
Today's easy is built almost entirely from sums — two-cell pairs, one long column and a handful of lone squares. Ignore the multi-cell regions for a moment and hunt the single-cell ones: a sum sitting alone in one square leaves exactly one legal pip, so it hands you an answer before you have made a single decision.
💡 The two corner 4s
The orange sum-4 square in the top-right corner and the blue sum-4 square in the bottom-left corner both hold a 4 — no other pip fits a lone sum of four. Each 4 is half of a horizontal tile. In the blue corner the 4 sits on the left with a 3 to its right dropping into the middle of the teal sum-10 column; in the orange corner the 4 sits on the right with a 5 stepping left to the top of the purple sum-10 pair.
💡 Full easy answer
Complete layout. The 4/3 tile lies flat in the bottom-left corner: 4 in the blue sum-4 square, 3 on its right in the middle cell of the teal sum-10 column. The 5/4 tile lies flat along the top-right: 5 on the left at the top of the purple sum-10 pair, 4 on the right in the orange sum-4 corner. Purple now holds a 5, so its lower cell must also be 5 — the 5/5 double lies flat there, 5 on the right in purple and 5 on the left in the top cell of the pink sum-10 pair. Pink's top cell is 5 too, so its bottom cell needs another 5: that is the 5 of the 1/5 tile, lying flat with the 1 stepping left into the top cell of the teal column. Teal now reads 1 + 3 = 4, so its lowest cell needs a 6 — the 6/5 tile lies flat along the bottom, 6 on the left in the teal column's bottom cell and 5 on the right in the green greater-4 square beside it.
💡 Two extreme constraints
Medium boards reward you for finding the loudest clues first. Here there is a sum region whose target is zero and a block where every cell must match — one tells you a pip outright, the other tells you that a single value has to fill four squares. Start with those two and the rest of the grid begins to organise itself.
💡 Zero in the middle, sixes in the block
The orange sum-0 square at the centre of the board can only be a 0, and that 0 is the left half of a horizontal tile whose right half — a 3 — steps into the top-left cell of the blue unequal block on the right. Now the teal equals block: four cells that must all agree. It resolves to 6s, because the 6/6 double supplies two at once and the 4/6 and 2/6 tiles bring the other two.
💡 Full medium answer
Complete layout. The 0/3 tile lies flat at the centre: 0 on the left in the orange sum-0 square, 3 on the right in the top-left cell of the blue unequal block. The 6/6 double lies flat across the bottom of the teal block, filling its bottom-centre and bottom-right cells. The 4/6 tile lies flat above the double: 6 on the right in the teal block's top-centre cell, 4 on the left in the pink greater-2 square. The 2/6 tile lies flat along the bottom-left: 6 on the right in the teal block's bottom-left cell, 2 on the left in the uncoloured square at the bottom-left corner. The 4/5 tile lies flat in the bottom-right: 4 on the left in the blue block's bottom-left cell, 5 on the right in its bottom-right cell. The 3/3 double stands vertically in the left column: 3 in the uncoloured top-left square, 3 in the uncoloured square directly below it. The 1/3 tile stands vertically on the right edge: 3 in the upper cell of the purple less-6 pair, 1 in the lower cell.
💡 Start at the extremes
This board is a wall of single-cell sums, so read the type of constraint rather than the tiles. Almost every region announces its own pip, which makes the smallest targets — the zeros — and the rarest pip on the tray your two entry points. Find those before you touch anything else.
💡 The lone 6 has only one home
Exactly one tile in the tray carries a 6, and no single-cell target on the board is 6 or more. So the 6 must sit in an unconstrained square whose neighbour can legally take the 3 travelling with it. Four of the five uncoloured squares fail that test; the uncoloured square in the middle of the board succeeds, because the cell directly above it is the orange sum 3.
💡 Five zeros, five zero tiles
Count the other extreme: the board has five squares that must sum to zero, and the tray has exactly five tiles carrying a 0 — 0/1, 0/2, 0/3, 0/4 and 0/5. That is a perfect match, so every one of those tiles is used and each partner pip must land in an adjacent cell whose own target welcomes it. Example: the purple sum-0 square on the right edge sends its 5 down into the green sum 5 directly beneath it.
💡 Match each zero to the target next door
Read the five zero squares one at a time and let the neighbouring targets pick the partner. The orange sum 0 on the left edge sends a 1 up into the uncoloured square above it; the blue sum 0 at the centre sends a 2 up into the green sum 2; the lower orange sum 0 in the middle of the board sends a 3 right into the blue sum 3; the pink sum 0 on the left sends a 4 up into the pink sum 4; and the purple sum 0 on the right edge sends its 5 down into the green sum 5. That accounts for all five zero tiles.
💡 Full hard answer
Complete layout. 3/6 stands vertically in the centre: 3 up in the orange sum 3, 6 down in the uncoloured centre square. 0/1 stands vertically on the left edge: 1 up in the uncoloured top-left square, 0 down in the orange sum 0. 0/2 stands vertically: 2 up in the green sum 2 near the top, 0 down in the blue sum 0 at the centre. 0/3 lies flat: 0 on the left in the lower orange sum 0, 3 on the right in the blue sum 3 on the right side. 0/4 stands vertically on the left: 4 up in the pink sum 4, 0 down in the pink sum 0. 0/5 stands vertically on the right edge: 0 up in the purple sum 0, 5 down in the green sum 5. 1/4 stands vertically at the top-left: 1 up in the uncoloured square, 4 down in the left cell of the blue sum 8. 2/4 stands vertically: 2 up in the purple sum 2 on the top edge, 4 down in the right cell of the blue sum 8. 3/4 lies flat along the top: 3 on the left in the pink sum 3, 4 on the right in the teal sum 4. 4/5 stands vertically on the right: 5 up in the purple sum 5, 4 down in the green sum 4. 3/5 stands vertically on the left: 3 up in the teal sum 3, 5 down in the teal sum 5. 2/3 stands vertically: 2 up in the purple sum 2 at the bottom-left, 3 down in the blue sum 3 at the bottom-left. 1/5 lies flat: 5 on the left in the pink sum 5, 1 on the right in the uncoloured square beside it. 2/5 stands vertically: 2 up in the teal sum 2, 5 down in the pink sum 5 at the bottom-right. 1/3 lies flat along the bottom: 3 on the left in the green sum 3, 1 on the right in the purple sum 1. 1/2 stands vertically at the bottom-right: 2 up in the orange sum 2, 1 down in the uncoloured bottom-right corner square.
🎨 Pips Solver
Nov 1, 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
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
Compare this final grid with your own solution to see the correct placement of all dominoes.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Easy Level
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Step 1: Two free 4s
Two single-cell sum regions give themselves away at once. A lone square that must sum to 4 can only hold a 4, so the orange square in the top-right corner and the blue square in the bottom-left corner are both 4. Neither is a double, so each brings a partner: the blue corner's tile lies flat and drops a 3 to its right, into the middle cell of the teal sum-10 column, and the orange corner's tile lies flat with a 5 stepping left to the top of the purple sum-10 pair.
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Step 2: Purple answers back
The purple pair is a two-cell sum of 10, and its upper cell now holds 5 — so the lower cell must also be 5. That 5 is the right half of the 5/5 double, which lies flat with its left half seated in the top cell of the pink sum-10 pair, just to the left.
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Step 3: Pink repeats the trick
The pink pair is also a two-cell sum of 10 with a 5 already in its upper cell, so its lower cell is 5 as well. That 5 comes from the 1/5 tile, lying flat, whose other half — a 1 — steps left into the top cell of the teal sum-10 column.
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Step 4: Teal closes the board
The teal column now reads 1 in its top cell and 3 in its middle cell, which is 4 of the 10 it needs, so the bottom cell must be 6. Only the 6/5 tile supplies it: it lies flat along the bottom of the board, 6 on the left in the teal column's lowest cell and 5 on the right in the green greater-4 square, which a 5 happily satisfies. Every region is complete.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level
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Step 1: Zero in the middle
The orange sum-0 square at the centre of the board is the most absolute clue on the grid — a single cell summing to zero can only hold a 0. That 0 is the left half of the 0/3 tile, which lies flat so its 3 sits in the top-left cell of the blue unequal block immediately to the right.
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Step 2: Four cells that must agree
The teal block is four cells that all have to match. Matching four cells needs a repeated value, and the repeated value here is 6: the 6/6 double covers two of the cells, and the 4/6 and 2/6 tiles each contribute a 6 alongside a partner that goes elsewhere. Start by laying the 6/6 double flat across the bottom-centre and bottom-right cells of the block.
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Step 3: The unequal trio sorts itself
The blue unequal block holds three cells that must all differ, and its top-left cell is already a 3. The two remaining cells sit side by side along the bottom-right. Every 6 in the tray is spoken for by the teal block, so the only tile that can fill two adjacent cells with distinct pips here is the 4/5 — laid flat, 4 in the block's bottom-left cell and 5 in its bottom-right cell.
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Step 4: Two sixes finish the block
The teal block still has two empty cells, and geometry decides how they are fed. Its top-centre cell has only one free neighbour, the pink greater-2 square to its left, so the 4/6 tile lies flat there: 6 on the right in teal, 4 on the left in pink. The bottom-left cell of the block is fed the same way by the 2/6 tile, lying flat, 6 on the right in teal and 2 on the left in the uncoloured square at the bottom-left corner.
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Step 5: The last two tiles
Only the 3/3 double and the 1/3 tile remain, and the only empty cells are two vertical pairs: the uncoloured squares down the left column and the purple less-6 pair on the right edge. The 3/3 double stands vertically in the left column, 3 in the top-left square and 3 directly beneath it; the 1/3 tile stands vertically on the right edge, 3 in the upper half of the purple pair and 1 in the lower half, both comfortably under 6.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level
1
Step 1: Pin the lone 6
Only the 3/6 tile in the tray carries a 6, and no single-cell target on the board is 6 or more — every target is 5 or lower. So the 6 has to occupy one of the five uncoloured squares, and its 3 must land in a neighbour that can legally accept a 3. The top-left pair of uncoloured squares, the unconstrained square low in the centre and the bottom-right corner square all fail, because none of their neighbours is a sum-3 cell. Only the uncoloured square in the middle of the board works: the orange sum 3 sits directly above it. Lay the 3/6 vertically, 3 up in that orange region and 6 down in the free centre square.
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Step 2: Count the zeros
Now the other extreme. Five squares demand a sum of zero — the orange sum 0 on the left edge, the blue sum 0 at the centre, the lower orange sum 0 in the middle of the board, the pink sum 0 on the left and the purple sum 0 on the right edge. The tray holds exactly five tiles with a 0 on them: 0/1, 0/2, 0/3, 0/4 and 0/5. The match is perfect, so all five are used here and every partner pip has to sit in a cell touching its zero.
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Step 3: Let the neighbours choose the partners
Because nearly every region is a one-cell sum, each zero's partner wants a neighbour whose target equals the partner. Work round the board: the orange sum 0 on the left edge sends a 1 up into the uncoloured top-left square; the blue sum 0 at the centre sends a 2 up into the green sum 2; the lower orange sum 0 in the middle sends a 3 right into the blue sum 3; the pink sum 0 sends a 4 up into the pink sum 4 above it; and the purple sum 0 on the right edge sends a 5 down into the green sum 5 beneath it. The zero tiles are done — 0/1, 0/2, 0/3, 0/4 and 0/5 all placed.
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Step 4: The only two-cell sum
The blue sum-8 pair near the top-left is the sole multi-cell sum on the board, which makes it a landmark. Its two cells are fed from above, and the pips that arrive are 4 and 4: the 1/4 tile stands vertically with its 4 down in the left cell of the pair and its 1 up in the uncoloured square, while the 2/4 tile stands vertically with its 4 down in the right cell and its 2 up in the purple sum 2 on the top edge. With those in place, the top strip closes: the 3/4 tile lies flat with 3 in the pink sum 3 and 4 in the teal sum 4 beside it, and the 4/5 tile stands vertically with 5 up in the purple sum 5 and 4 down in the green sum 4.
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Step 5: Sweep the lower half
What is left is a run of single-cell targets that each take the pip matching their own target. The 3/5 tile stands vertically with 3 up in the teal sum 3 and 5 down in the teal sum 5 below it. In the bottom-left, the 2/3 tile stands vertically, 2 up in the purple sum 2 and 3 down in the blue sum 3. The 1/5 tile lies flat with 5 in the pink sum 5 and 1 in the uncoloured square to its right. The 2/5 tile stands vertically, 2 up in the teal sum 2 and 5 down in the pink sum 5 at the bottom-right. The 1/3 tile lies flat along the bottom row, 3 in the green sum 3 and 1 in the purple sum 1. Finally the 1/2 tile stands vertically in the bottom-right corner, 2 up in the orange sum 2 and 1 down in the uncoloured corner square.
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Step 6: The complete layout
Everything together. 3/6 vertical in the centre: 3 up in the orange sum 3, 6 down in the uncoloured centre square. 0/1 vertical on the left edge: 1 up in the uncoloured top-left square, 0 down in the orange sum 0. 0/2 vertical: 2 up in the green sum 2, 0 down in the blue sum 0. 0/3 flat: 0 left in the lower orange sum 0, 3 right in the blue sum 3. 0/4 vertical on the left: 4 up in the pink sum 4, 0 down in the pink sum 0. 0/5 vertical on the right edge: 0 up in the purple sum 0, 5 down in the green sum 5. 1/4 vertical: 1 up in the uncoloured square, 4 down in the left cell of the blue sum 8. 2/4 vertical: 2 up in the purple sum 2 on the top edge, 4 down in the right cell of the blue sum 8. 3/4 flat along the top: 3 in the pink sum 3, 4 in the teal sum 4. 4/5 vertical on the right: 5 up in the purple sum 5, 4 down in the green sum 4. 3/5 vertical on the left: 3 up in the teal sum 3, 5 down in the teal sum 5. 2/3 vertical at the bottom-left: 2 up in the purple sum 2, 3 down in the blue sum 3. 1/5 flat: 5 in the pink sum 5, 1 in the uncoloured square. 2/5 vertical: 2 up in the teal sum 2, 5 down in the pink sum 5. 1/3 flat: 3 in the green sum 3, 1 in the purple sum 1. 1/2 vertical at the bottom-right: 2 up in the orange sum 2, 1 down in the uncoloured corner square.
💡 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.
💬 Community Discussion
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