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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
Easy (Ian Livengood) is the warm-up: ten cells, five tiles, and a board where every region is either a pair or a single. There isn't a single double in the tray, which is exactly the point — today's NYT Pips easy is built so the pink sum-10 pair on the left decides everything else, and the two equals pairs plus three greater-than singles then follow in a straight line. Expect two minutes and no forks.
Medium (Rodolfo Kurchan) steps up to fourteen cells and seven tiles, and it has one genuine bottleneck: the blue equals block tucked into the bottom-right needs three identical pips, while the teal sum-10 pair needs the fourth of that same value. Count the 6s before you place anything and the whole middle of the board unravels in a clean order; skip the count and you'll be guessing your way through the orange unequal block. Budget three to four minutes.
Hard (Rodolfo Kurchan) is the real thing: thirty cells, fifteen tiles, and a board where most regions are single cells with tiny sum targets — 0, 1, 2, 3 — flanked by two four-cell equals blocks that swallow eight cells between them. The anchors are generous (the teal sum-0 cell is a gift and the purple sum-4 run can only ever be four 1s), but the tray's pip counts are what actually make it hard: eight 2s, seven 4s and five 1s, every one of which gets spent. Allow ten to fifteen minutes and keep a tally.
💡 Progressive Hints
Try these hints one at a time. Each hint becomes more specific to help you solve it yourself!
💡 Where to look first
Start with the constraint types that bite hardest on a small board: the lone single cells carrying greater-than targets, and the two equals pairs. But the sum region is the one that tells you which pips are already spoken for.
💡 The pair that can only be one thing
The pink sum-10 pair on the left is the bottleneck. There is no 4 anywhere in this tray, so 4+6 is off the table and the pair can only be two 5s. Before you commit, check the blue greater-1 cell directly beneath the pair's left cell — it refuses a 1, so the 5/1 tile can't supply that half.
💡 Complete answer
The pink sum-10 pair takes two 5s. Lay the 6/5 tile upright in the top-left with 6 up in the orange greater-4 corner cell and 5 down in the pair's right cell; lay the 5/3 tile upright on the left edge with 5 up in the pair's left cell and 3 down in the blue greater-1 cell. The teal equals column is a 2/2: the 2/0 tile lies flat, 2 left in the teal's upper cell and 0 right in the uncoloured square, while the 2/1 tile stands with 2 up in the teal's lower cell and 1 down in the left cell of the purple equals pair at the bottom-right. Finish with the 5/1 tile standing on the right edge — 5 up in the green greater-0 cell, 1 down in the purple pair's right cell.
💡 The two regions that matter
Two constraint types do all the work here: an equals block tucked into the bottom-right corner and a sum pair sitting in the middle-left. Read them against each other before you look anywhere else — the rest of the board is bookkeeping.
💡 Count before you place
There are exactly four 6s in this tray, spread over three tiles. The blue equals block wants three identical pips, so it wants three of them; the teal sum-10 pair wants the fourth. There are no 5s in the tray at all, which leaves the teal pair a single possible combination.
💡 Complete answer
The 2/6 tile stands vertically at the top: 2 up in the uncoloured square, 6 down in the teal sum-10 pair's right cell. The 4/1 tile stands beside it with 1 up in the purple less-2 pair's right cell and 4 down in the teal's left cell. The 0/3 tile stands at the top-left corner, 0 up in the purple's left cell and 3 down at the top of the pink less-8 block. The blue equals block fills with 6s: the 6/6 tile flat across its bottom two cells, and the 6/4 tile flat with 6 right in the block's top-left cell and 4 left in the orange unequal block's top-right cell. Finish the bottom row with the 3/2 tile flat through the orange block (3 left, 2 right) and the 3/1 tile flat through the pink block's bottom (3 right, 1 left).
💡 Two families of constraint
Tiny single-cell sums dominate here — several targets are 0, 1, 2 or 3 — and they pinch exact pips. The two four-cell equals blocks at the left and the bottom-right force the same pip four times over. Start at the smallest target on the board.
💡 Free money on the top row
The teal sum-0 cell is a giveaway: only one tile in the whole tray carries a 0, and the partner pip on that tile is exactly what the orange sum-2 cell beside it needs. Down at the bottom-left, the purple sum-4 run of four cells can only ever be four 1s — there's no other way to reach 4 across four cells.
💡 The sum-1 cell picks its tile
The orange sum-1 cell on the second row must hold a 1, and its neighbours are unforgiving: the cells above, below and to the right all demand fixed values, so the partner pip has to arrive from the left. That is the 1/5 tile — lay it flat with 1 on the right in the orange cell and 5 on the left in the teal greater-4 cell. Two regions close at once.
💡 Seeding the left equals block
The purple sum-5 pair at the top-left is 3+2. The 3/3 double lies flat in the corner, 3 left in the sum-5 pair's upper cell and 3 right in the pink sum-3 cell; the 2/2 tile stands directly beneath, 2 up completing the sum-5 pair and 2 down as the top-left corner of the left blue equals block. That block is now committed to 2s, all four of them.
💡 Complete answer
The 2/0 tile lies flat on the top row: 0 on the left in the teal sum-0 cell, 2 on the right in the orange sum-2 cell. The 3/3 tile lies flat in the top-left corner, 3 left in the upper half of the purple sum-5 pair and 3 right in the pink sum-3 cell; the 2/2 tile stands beneath the sum-5's upper half, 2 up in its lower cell and 2 down as the top-left corner of the left blue equals block. The 4/3 tile runs flat across the top-right, 3 left in the blue sum-3 cell and 4 right in the upper cell of the green equals pair, and the 4/2 tile stands beneath it with 4 up in that pair's lower cell and 2 down in the right-hand pink sum-2 cell. On the second row the 1/5 tile lies flat with 5 left in the teal greater-4 cell and 1 right in the orange sum-1 cell, the 2/6 tile lies flat with 6 left in the purple sum-6 cell and 2 right in the top pink sum-2 cell, and the 6/4 tile lies flat below them with 4 left in the green sum-4 centre cell and 6 right in the right-hand purple sum-6 cell. Down the left side the blue equals block is all 2s: the 3/2 tile lies flat with 2 left in the block's middle-left cell and 3 right in the teal less-4 cell, the 1/2 tile stands with 2 up in the block's bottom-left cell and 1 down in the left cell of the purple sum-4 run, and the 2/5 tile lies flat with 2 left in the block's bottom-right cell and 5 right in the green greater-4 cell. The bottom-right blue equals block is all 4s: the 4/4 tile stands upright with 4 up and 4 down in the block's right-hand column, the 1/4 tile lies flat with 4 right in the block's bottom-left cell and 1 left in the right cell of the sum-4 run, and the 4/5 tile lies flat above with 5 left in the orange greater-4 cell and 4 right in the block's top-right cell. The 1/1 double lies flat in the middle of the sum-4 run, so that run reads 1, 1, 1, 1.
🎨 Pips Solver
Nov 11, 2026
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✅ 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: Read the sum region first
The pink sum-10 pair on the left can only be 5+5. There is no 4 anywhere in the tray to pair with the lone 6, and every other combination falls short, so both cells of that pair are 5s before you touch a tile. That instantly accounts for two of the tray's three 5s.
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Step 2: The corner cell chooses its neighbour
The orange greater-4 single cell sits in the top-left corner and will only accept a 5 or a 6. The 6/5 tile is the one that can put a 6 there and still park its other half somewhere useful: stand it upright, 6 up in the orange cell and 5 down in the right cell of the pink sum-10 pair.
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Step 3: The blue cell vetoes the 1
One 5 is still owed to the pink pair, and the blue greater-1 cell sits directly beneath the pair's left cell. A 1 falling into that blue cell would break the greater-than rule, which rules the 5/1 tile out of that slot. So the 5/3 tile goes upright on the left edge: 5 up in the pink pair's left cell, 3 down in the blue greater-1 cell.
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Step 4: The equals pairs and the free square
With no doubles in the tray, the teal equals column must be fed by two different tiles showing the same pip — and with all the 5s now accounted for, it's a 2/2. The 2/0 tile lies flat, 2 left in the teal's upper cell and 0 right in the uncoloured square; the 2/1 tile stands with 2 up in the teal's lower cell and 1 down in the left cell of the purple equals pair at the bottom-right. That pair needs a matching 1 on its right, and the last tile supplies it: the 5/1 stands on the right edge, 5 up in the green greater-0 cell and 1 down in the purple pair's right cell.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level
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Step 1: Count the sixes
The blue equals block in the bottom-right has three cells that must all match, so it needs three copies of one pip. The teal sum-10 pair can only be 4+6, because there are no 5s anywhere in this tray. Scanning everything, the 6s come to exactly four across three tiles — three for the blue block, one for the teal pair. Every 6 is booked.
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Step 2: The block builds from the corner
The 6/6 double is the natural seed for that blue block, so lay it flat across the block's bottom two cells. Its third cell, up at the top-left of the block, needs a 6 from a tile whose other half can escape sideways — only the 6/4 tile can, running flat with 6 right in the block's top-left cell and 4 left in the orange unequal block's top-right cell.
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Step 3: The free square feeds the sum pair
The teal pair still needs its 6 and its 4. The 2/6 tile stands vertically with 2 up in the uncoloured square and 6 down in the teal's right cell; the 4 comes from the 4/1 tile standing one column over, 1 up in the purple less-2 pair's right cell and 4 down in the teal's left cell. Note how the purple pair is now half-solved at 1.
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Step 4: The purple pair and the pink block
Every cell of the purple less-2 pair must be under 2, and the tray holds a single 0. The 0/3 tile stands in the top-left corner: 0 up in the purple's left cell, 3 down at the top of the pink less-8 block. The less-8 block has no trouble with a 3 — its target only bans 8s and above.
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Step 5: Filling the bottom row
The orange unequal block needs three different pips; it already holds a 4 at its top-right, so the 3/2 tile lies flat across its bottom two cells with 3 left and 2 right, and all three values differ. The last tile, 3/1, lies flat along the bottom of the pink less-8 block — 3 right, 1 left — and the grid is complete.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level
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Step 1: The sum-0 cell hands you two regions
The teal sum-0 single cell on the top row must be 0. Scan the tray: exactly one tile carries a 0, the 2/0. It lies flat, 0 left in the teal cell and 2 right in the orange sum-2 cell — which needed precisely a 2. Two regions solved in one placement, with no guesswork.
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Step 2: The four-cell run of 1s
The purple sum-4 region along the bottom-left spans four cells, and four non-negative pips summing to 4 can only be 1, 1, 1, 1. The tray's five 1s live on four tiles, so this run eats all but one of them. Treat those four cells as reserved from here on.
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Step 3: The sum-1 cell and the greater-4 cell
The orange sum-1 single on the second row demands a 1, and its neighbours are all locked to other values — above is a sum-3 cell, to the right an equals cell, below a sum-6 cell. So the 1 must be fed from the left, from a tile lying flat: the 1/5, with 1 right in the orange cell and 5 left in the teal greater-4 cell. That greater-4 cell only accepts 5 or 6, and a 5 fits.
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Step 4: The top-left corner commits two regions
The purple sum-5 pair needs a 3 and a 2. The 3/3 double lies flat in the corner, 3 left in the sum-5 pair's upper cell and 3 right in the pink sum-3 cell — target met exactly. The 2/2 tile stands directly beneath the sum-5's upper cell, 2 up completing the pair and 2 down forming the top-left corner of the left blue equals block. That block is now committed: all four of its cells are 2s.
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Step 5: The inner singles finish the middle
The green sum-4 cell in the centre of the board takes a 4 from the 6/4 tile, which lies flat with 4 left there and 6 right in the right-hand purple sum-6 cell. The top pink sum-2 cell takes a 2 from the 2/6 tile lying flat, 6 left in the other purple sum-6 cell and 2 right in the pink. On the left, the 3/2 tile puts 2 in the equals block's middle-left cell and 3 in the teal less-4 cell; the 1/2 tile puts its 2 up in the block's bottom-left cell and its 1 down in the sum-4 run; the 2/5 tile puts 2 in the block's bottom-right cell and 5 in the green greater-4 cell.
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Step 6: The four-cell equals block of 4s
The bottom-right equals block wants four matching pips, and 4 is the value the tray can supply. The 4/4 double stands upright in the block's right-hand column, 4 up and 4 down. The 4/5 tile lies flat above it, 5 left in the orange greater-4 cell and 4 right in the block's top-right cell. The 1/4 tile lies flat below, 4 right in the block's bottom-left cell and 1 left in the right cell of the sum-4 run — which the 1/1 double then completes across the middle, giving 1, 1, 1, 1. The green equals pair at the top-right closes with 4 from the 4/3 tile (3 left in the blue sum-3 cell) and 4 from the 4/2 tile (2 down in the right-hand pink sum-2 cell).
💡 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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