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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
Ian Livengood designs the easy as an exercise in subtraction. Ten playable cells, five tiles, and two sum-1 squares set in opposite corners — the whole puzzle is built so those twin anchors commit their dominoes downward on the very first move, one into an equals pair and one into a free square. What makes it feel generous rather than thin is the way Livengood hides a single decisive pip at the far edge: the blue greater 4 square is the only region on the board whose constraint demands a 5, and the tray obliges with exactly one. Today's NYT Pips easy is a lesson in how much a five-tile tray can say.
Rodolfo Kurchan's medium folds that same logic inward. The pink equals column on the right edge is a Kurchan signature — three cells that must agree, with the topmost one touching nothing but the cell beneath it, which drags the tray's lone double into the puzzle before anything else can move. From there the design turns back on itself: the 4 that finishes the column leaves the tray, the only remaining tile carrying a 4 is spent in the green greater 3 corner, and that in turn sets a teal sum 8 pair on the opposite edge. Every placement pays for the next one.
The hard is Kurchan at his most architectural. Two four-cell equals blocks — one all 4s on the left, one all 0s across the bottom — push the board to its extremes, and a teal sum 16 block bridges them, taking one 4 from the 4/4 double whose other half drops straight into the orange block. Add a green column that refuses to repeat a value and a lone pink cell that can only be a zero, and the grid stops reading like arithmetic and starts reading like a set of interlocking promises.
💡 Progressive Hints
Try these hints one at a time. Each hint becomes more specific to help you solve it yourself!
💡 Find the smallest targets
Start with the single-cell sum regions. Two of them carry the smallest target the puzzle allows, which pins those cells before any tile moves — and each of those cells has only one playable neighbour, so the domino feeding it is decided at the same moment.
💡 The corners, and the only 5
The teal sum 1 square in the top-left and the orange sum 1 square on the top-right edge are each held by a domino standing vertically. Meanwhile the blue greater 4 square at the bottom-right is the only region that must beat a 4, and with no 6 anywhere in the tray it takes the lone 5 — the partner pip drops into the pink equals pair beside it.
💡 Complete layout
Full layout: the 1/4 tile stands vertically in the top-left, 1 in the teal sum 1 square and 4 below in the upper cell of the purple equals pair; the 3/4 tile then lies flat along the bottom row with 4 on the right in the purple's lower cell and 3 on the left in the green less 4 corner. The 1/3 tile stands vertically at the top-right, 1 in the orange sum 1 square and 3 below in the uncoloured square on the right. The 0/5 tile lies flat across the bottom-right, its 0 in the right-hand cell of the pink equals pair and its 5 in the blue greater 4 square, and the 1/0 tile sits immediately left of it — 1 in the uncoloured bottom square, 0 in the pink's left-hand cell, closing the pair.
💡 Chase the equals region
Begin with the constraint that copies a value instead of counting one. An equals region on a narrow edge often has a cell with only a single neighbour, which means the matching pip has to come from the same tile — a filter that removes most of the tray in one go.
💡 The pink column on the right
The pink equals column on the right edge is three cells that must agree, and its topmost cell touches nothing but the cell below it. Only one tile in the tray has two identical halves — the 4/4 double — so it spans those two cells and pins the whole column to 4. The column's foot then hands a 4, and therefore a 5, to the blue less 8 pair just to its left.
💡 Complete layout
Full layout: the 4/4 double stands vertically at the top of the pink equals column, 4 in the upper cell and 4 in the middle one; the 5/4 tile lies flat at the column's foot with 4 on the right in the lowest pink cell and 5 on the left in the lower cell of the blue less 8 pair. On the left, the 4/3 tile stands vertically in the bottom corner, 4 below in the green greater 3 square and 3 above in the left cell of the teal sum 8 pair — which pushes a 5 into the pair's right-hand cell, supplied by the 2/5 tile, whose 2 drops into the uncoloured square beneath it. The 3/1 tile stands vertically near the top, 3 in the purple less 4 cell and 1 in the orange block's top-left cell; the 5/1 tile then lies flat along the bottom with 1 in the block's bottom-left cell and 5 in its bottom-right, and the 2/3 tile lies flat with 3 in the block's top-right cell and 2 in the upper cell of the blue less 8 pair.
💡 Read the single cells first
Open with the constraints that settle a cell outright — fixed sums, and the two 'less' cells whose targets are so low that only one pip can answer them. The equals blocks come next; there are two of them here, and they are the load-bearing structures this whole grid is hung on.
💡 Two cells that name themselves
The pink less 1 square on the left edge can only hold a zero, and the purple greater 5 square near the top-right can only hold a six — only two tiles in the tray carry one. Those two pips frame everything: the zero lies flat beside the orange equals block on the left, and the six lies flat with a 1 running right into the pink less 2 cell.
💡 The 4s are the currency
Five tiles in the tray carry a 4, and the orange equals block on the left swallows four of them; the fifth is spat into the teal sum 16 block above. The 4/4 double is the hinge of the design — standing vertically it puts one 4 in the teal block and one in the orange block, straddling both at once.
💡 Zeros along the bottom
The blue equals block is all zeros, fed by three tiles: the 0/5 tile's 0 opens it at the top-left cell, the 0/3 tile slides its 0 into the top-right cell, and the 0/0 double fills the two lowest cells. Around them the purple less 3 pair reads 2 over 0 from the 2/0 tile, and the green unequal column reads 1, 6, 3 from top to bottom. Then only the bottom row is left.
💡 Complete layout
Complete layout: the 1/2 tile stands vertically at the top with 1 in the purple sum 1 square and 2 in the blue sum 2 square below it; the 3/2 tile lies flat along the top row, 2 in the uncoloured square and 3 in the pink sum 3 cell beside it. Below that, the 1/6 tile lies flat with 6 in the purple greater 5 cell and 1 in the pink less 2 cell. The teal sum 16 block reads 4, 4, 3, 5 — the 4/3 tile's 4 at its top-left (its 3 in the orange sum 3 cell to the right), the upper half of the 4/4 double, the 3/1 tile's 3 (its 1 in the blue sum 1 square), and the upper half of the 0/5 tile (its 0 opening the blue equals block below). The orange equals block is four 4s: the 1/4 tile's 4 at its top-left with 1 in the teal less 2 corner, the 4/0 tile's 4 in the middle-left cell with 0 in the pink less 1 cell, the lower half of the 4/4 double in the middle-right cell, and the 4/5 tile's 4 at the bottom-right with 5 in the orange greater 4 cell. The green unequal column runs 1, 6, 3 from top to bottom — the 1/1 double (its other 1 in the green sum 1 cell above), the 2/6 tile (its 2 in the teal sum 2 cell), and the 0/3 tile's 3. Beside it the purple less 3 pair is 2 over 0 from the 2/0 tile, and the blue equals block is all zeros from the 0/5, 0/3 and 0/0 tiles, the double filling the two lowest cells. Finally the 2/5 tile lies flat along the bottom row, 2 on the left and 5 on the right, summing to 7.
🎨 Pips Solver
Nov 2, 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
1
Step 1: Two cells that can only be 1
The teal sum 1 square in the top-left corner and the orange sum 1 square on the top-right edge each sum to 1 on their own, so both must hold a 1. Neither has a horizontal neighbour — the board leaves only one reachable cell beneath each — so both dominoes must stand vertically before anything else is decided.
2
Step 2: The lone 5 picks its square
The blue greater 4 square at the bottom-right must hold something above 4, and the tray contains no 6 at all, so it takes the 5 from the 0/5 tile. Its only playable neighbour is the cell to its left, which sits in the pink equals pair, so a 0 lands there — and the pair's other cell must therefore be a 0 as well.
3
Step 3: Closing up the bottom row
The left-hand cell of the pink pair now owns a 0 and has one free neighbour, the uncoloured bottom square, which takes the 1 from the 1/0 tile. That leaves the purple equals pair on the bottom-left as two cells that must match. The tray holds no double, so they cannot be a single domino, and with the cell to their right already spoken for, the pair's lower cell must reach left into the green less 4 corner via the 3/4 tile.
4
Step 4: Green settles the direction
The green less 4 cell can only take a pip under 4, so it holds the 3 and the purple pair's lower cell holds the 4 — which drags the pair's upper cell to 4 as well. That makes the 1/4 tile the vertical column beneath the teal sum 1 square, and leaves the 1/3 tile as the matching column beneath the orange one, its 3 dropping into the uncoloured square on the right.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level
1
Step 1: The equals column gives up its value
The pink equals column on the right edge is three cells that must all agree, and its topmost cell touches nothing but the cell beneath it. So one single tile has to span those two cells with two identical pips — and the tray holds exactly one double, the 4/4. The column is therefore 4, 4, 4 from top to bottom.
2
Step 2: The foot of the column
The lowest pink cell's only remaining neighbour is the cell to its left, in the lower half of the blue less 8 pair, and that cell must take the second 4 of a 4-bearing tile. With the 4/4 spent, that is the 5/4 tile: it lies flat, 5 on the left in the blue pair and 4 on the right finishing the pink column.
3
Step 3: Teal has to be 3 and 5
The teal sum 8 pair on the left needs two pips adding to 8. There is no 6 in the tray and the 4/4 is already used, so the pair must be 3 and 5 — and since no single tile carries both a 3 and a 5, the pair's left cell has to pair downward instead. The tile that can land a pip above 3 in the green greater 3 corner is the 4/3: 4 below in the green cell, 3 above in the teal pair, which leaves 5 for the pair's right-hand cell.
4
Step 4: The 5 and its partner
That teal 5 arrives on the 2/5 tile, standing vertically with the 5 in the pair's right-hand cell and the 2 dropping into the uncoloured square directly below. The uncoloured cell is a free square, so the 2 sits there without complaint while the orange block's remaining cells stay open.
5
Step 5: Purple, orange and the leftovers
The purple less 4 cell at the top has a single neighbour, so the 3/1 tile stands vertically there — 3 in the purple cell, 1 in the orange block's top-left cell. Only the 5/1 and 2/3 tiles remain for the block's other three cells plus the top of the blue pair: 1 and 5 run along the bottom of the block, and 3 and 2 finish it with the 2 sitting in the upper blue cell.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level
1
Step 1: Two extremes give themselves away
The pink less 1 square on the left edge can hold nothing below zero, so it holds a zero; the purple greater 5 square near the top-right can hold nothing but a six. Both dictate their tiles at once: the 4/0 tile lies flat with the 0 on the left and the 4 on the right in the orange equals block, and the 1/6 tile lies flat with the 6 on the left in the purple cell and the 1 on the right in the pink less 2 cell.
2
Step 2: Working the top band
The purple sum 1 square must be a 1 and the blue sum 2 square directly beneath it a 2, which the 1/2 tile does in one vertical move. The pink sum 3 cell further right must be a 3, and after the 6 has taken its neighbour its only free side is the uncoloured square, so the 3/2 tile lies flat — 2 on the left, 3 on the right. The green sum 1 cell also needs a 1, and only the 1/1 double can supply one without stranding a partner: it stands vertically into the top of the green unequal column.
3
Step 3: Teal block and its neighbours
The orange sum 3 cell takes a 3, and with the 6 beside it already spent the 4/3 tile lies flat, 3 on the right and 4 on the left in the top-left corner of the teal sum 16 block. The blue sum 1 square just below the block must be a 1, so the 3/1 tile lies flat too — 3 on the left inside the teal block, 1 on the right. The teal block now has two cells filled and needs 9 more.
4
Step 4: The orange block resolves to 4s
The orange equals block already contains one 4 from the 4/0 tile, so every cell in it is a 4. That settles its members: the 1/4 tile lies flat across the block's top cell with 1 running left into the teal less 2 corner, the 4/4 double stands vertically with its lower 4 in the middle-right cell and its upper 4 in the teal block, and the 4/5 tile lies flat along the bottom with 4 on the right and 5 on the left in the orange greater 4 cell. The teal block's last two cells then read 4 and 5, bringing it to exactly 16.
5
Step 5: Zeros along the bottom
The blue equals block is all zeros. The 0/5 tile has already dropped a 0 into its top-left cell, the 0/3 tile lies flat with 0 on the left in the top-right cell and 3 on the right at the foot of the green unequal column, and the 0/0 double stands vertically through the two lowest cells. To their right the purple less 3 pair takes the 2/0 tile upright — 2 on top, 0 below — while the 2/6 tile lies flat with its 2 in the teal sum 2 cell and its 6 in the middle of that unequal column.
6
Step 6: The last row falls into place
Only the green sum 7 pair along the bottom row remains, and only the 2/5 tile fills it: 2 on the left, 5 on the right. The green unequal column above has ended up as 1, 6, 3 — three different values, exactly what its constraint asked for — and every cell on the board is now accounted for.
💡 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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