🚨 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!
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Want hints instead? Scroll down for progressive clues that won't spoil the fun.
🎲 Today's Puzzle Overview
The easy board opens with a gift: the blue greater 4 corner cell and the teal sum 4 cell are both single cells, so you can write something into each without cross-checking a thing. From there Ian Livengood's design funnels you straight into the purple less 3 block in the bottom-left — glance at the tray and you'll notice it holds no 1s, no 2s and no 5s, which collapses that three-cell shape into a wall of zeros and hands you the rest of the grid on a plate. Rodolfo Kurchan's medium takes the opposite approach: instead of scattering singles, it plants one fat equals block in the top-left and dares you to count. Scan the seven tiles for a pip that appears four times and that whole corner resolves at once; the 5 and the 3 riding along with those zeros then fall straight into the pink and teal regions beside it. After that the board is almost polite — a two-cell greater-than pair, then two leftover singles to sort out. The hard grid looks chaotic until you notice how many one-cell regions it hides — nine of them, each effectively shouting its own pip value. That's the foothold on this NYT Pips hard: bank the singles, then chase the equals runs along the top-right, where a double and a stray 1 do all the heavy lifting. The last third of the solve is a genuine squeeze — a three-cell column that must total 2, a four-cell block capped below 11, and a pair of unequal regions that only accept whatever is left in the tray.
💡 Progressive Hints
Try these hints one at a time. Each hint becomes more specific to help you solve it yourself!
💡 Start with the shouters
On the easy board the loudest clues are single cells: the blue greater 4 tucked in the top-left corner and the teal sum 4 on the right edge. Pair those with the little purple less 3 block in the bottom-left, which refuses to hold anything above 2. Read those three shapes before you touch a tile.
💡 The tray has no small change
Look hard at the five tiles in the tray: not a single 1, not a single 2, not a single 5 anywhere. That matters enormously for the purple less 3 block in the bottom-left — with only 0s, 3s, 4s and 6s on offer, every cell under 3 must be a 0, and the tray contains exactly three zeros to give away.
💡 The finished easy grid
The 0/0 double stands vertically inside the purple less 3 block, filling its top-right and bottom-right cells. The 3/0 tile stands vertically just left of it: 0 down in the purple's leftmost cell, 3 up in the orange sum 6's left cell. Orange's right cell then needs 3 too, so the 3/6 tile lies flat — 3 in the orange, 6 in the pink sum 9's upper cell — and the pink's lower cell takes 3 from the 3/4 tile, whose 4 fills the teal sum 4 cell. Finally the 6/4 tile lies flat across the top-left corner: 6 in the blue greater 4, 4 in the uncoloured square beside it.
💡 Count before you place
The medium board's boss is a big equals block in the top-left: four cells forced to carry one identical pip. Before anything else, tally how often each value shows up across the seven tiles — an equals region is really an inventory question.
💡 Four zeros, four cells
Only 0 turns up four times in the tray — twice on the 0/0 double, once on the 0/5 and once on the 3/0 — so the purple equals block is all zeros. The 0/0 double stands in its left column; the 0/5 lies flat with its 5 slipping right into the pink greater 4 beside the block, and the 3/0 lies flat with its 3 slipping right into the teal block.
💡 The finished medium grid
The purple equals block is four zeros: the 0/0 double standing vertically in its left column, the 0/5 flat with 0 in the block's top-right cell and 5 in the pink greater 4 to its right, and the 3/0 flat with 0 in the block's bottom-right cell and 3 in the teal block's top-left cell. The 5/3 tile stands vertically inside the teal block — 3 in its top-right cell, 5 in its bottom cell, total 11. The orange greater 4 pair at the bottom-left takes the 2/4 tile standing vertically, 2 upper and 4 lower. The 1/3 tile lies flat with 1 in the blue less 3 cell and 3 in the green greater 2 cell, and the 1/2 tile stands vertically at the top-right: 1 in the uncoloured square, 2 in the purple greater 1 cell below it.
💡 Nine cells already know their number
The hard grid is dotted with single-cell regions — a blue corner, an orange pair of singles, a purple sum and a pink sum. Each one's sum constraint is really just an announcement of the pip it holds. Read all nine of those before you try to link anything.
💡 The corner 4 drags its twin
The blue sum 4 in the top-left corner has only one open neighbour — the left cell of the pink sum 7 pair — so the 4/4 double lies flat across that corner: 4 in the blue cell, 4 in the pink's left cell. The pink pair now wants a 3, which arrives with the 1/3 tile: 3 in the pink's right cell, 1 in the left cell of the teal equals run.
💡 Two equals shapes, two partners
The teal equals run along the top-right tops itself up with the 1/1 double in its middle and right cells, matching the 1 already on its left. Across the board the green equals pair wants two 6s: the 5/6 tile lies flat with its 6 in the pair's left cell and its 5 to the left in the blue sum 5 cell, while the 6/0 tile stands vertically to supply the second 6, dropping its 0 into the orange sum 0 cell underneath.
💡 The bottom-right column totals two
The green sum 2 column of three down the bottom-right is the tightest multi-cell region remaining: three cells totalling 2 can only be 0, 1, 1. The 0/1 tile stands vertically for the top two cells — 0 upper, 1 in the middle — and the 1/2 tile lies flat along the bottom, its 1 in the column's lowest cell and its 2 slipping left into the orange sum 2 cell.
💡 The finished hard grid
The 4/4 lies flat across the top-left corner: 4 in the blue sum 4, 4 in the pink sum 7's left cell. The 1/3 lies flat along the top row: 3 in the pink's right cell, 1 in the teal equals run's left cell, and the 1/1 double fills that run's middle and right cells. The 6/1 lies flat with 6 in the purple unequal block's top-right cell and 1 in the orange sum 1 to its right. The 5/6 lies flat: 5 in the blue sum 5, 6 in the green equals pair's left cell; the 6/0 stands vertically with 6 in the pair's right cell and 0 in the orange sum 0 below. The 2/0 stands vertically in the purple unequal block — 0 upper in its top-left cell, 2 lower in its bottom-left cell. The 2/5 lies flat with 5 in the purple sum 5 at the centre and 2 in the pink less 3 to its right. The 1/4 stands vertically in the teal unequal pair, 1 upper and 4 lower. Along the bottom: the 5/3 lies flat, 5 in the pink sum 5 and 3 in the blue less 11 block's bottom-right cell; the 2/2 double stands vertically in that block's left column; the 3/3 lies flat across the block's middle row, one 3 inside it and the other in the purple sum 3; the 3/6 lies flat in the teal greater 8 pair, 3 left and 6 right; the 0/1 stands vertically in the green sum 2 column, 0 upper and 1 in the middle; and the 1/2 lies flat with 1 in that column's lowest cell and 2 in the orange sum 2.
🎨 Pips Solver
Nov 9, 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 single cells, one answer each
The blue greater 4 cell in the top-left corner has to hold 5 or more, and the tray contains no 5 at all — so that corner is a 6. The teal sum 4 on the right edge is a single cell, which means the cell itself reads 4. Two entries for almost nothing, and both of them drag a partner along.
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Step 2: The purple block swallows every zero
The purple less 3 block in the bottom-left must hold 0, 1 or 2 in each of its three cells, but the tray only offers 0s down there — no 1s, no 2s. So all three cells are zeros, supplied by the 0/0 double standing vertically in the block's middle column plus the 0 half of the 3/0 tile.
3
Step 3: Orange 6 and pink 9 trade halves
The leftover purple cell is the block's leftmost one, and its only free neighbour is the orange sum 6's left cell — so the 3/0 tile stands vertically there, 0 down in purple and 3 up in orange. Orange's right cell therefore needs a 3 as well, which the 3/6 tile provides: 3 in the orange's right cell, 6 in the pink sum 9's upper cell.
4
Step 4: The final two tiles fall into line
With 6 already sitting in the pink's upper cell, the pink's lower cell must be 3 — that is the 3/4 tile, lying flat so its 4 fills the teal sum 4 cell on the right edge. The 6/4 tile is all that remains, so it lies flat across the top-left corner: 6 in the blue greater 4, 4 in the uncoloured square to its right. Grid done.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level
1
Step 1: The equals block decides everything
An equals region needs one pip repeated across every cell, and the purple block in the top-left has four of them. Tally the seven tiles: only 0 appears four times — twice on the 0/0 double, once on the 0/5, once on the 3/0. So the block is all zeros. The 0/0 double stands vertically in the left column; the 0/5 lies flat with 0 in the block's top-right cell and 5 sliding right into the pink greater 4; the 3/0 lies flat with 0 in the block's bottom-right cell and 3 heading right into the teal block.
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Step 2: Pink settles, teal climbs past ten
The pink greater 4 is a single cell, so the 5 just dumped there finishes it outright. The teal block already owns one 3 in its top-left cell; the 5/3 tile stands vertically inside it, 3 in the top-right cell and 5 in the bottom cell, for a total of 11 against a limit of more than 10.
3
Step 3: Only one tile can feed the orange pair
The orange greater 4 vertical pair at the bottom-left must total more than 4, and by now the tray holds just 1/3, 2/4 and 1/2 — the other two top out at 4 and 3. So the 2/4 tile stands vertically there, 2 in the upper cell and 4 in the lower.
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Step 4: One less-than, one greater-than
Two tiles and two singles are left. The blue less 3 cell can only accept a 1 or a 2, while the green greater 2 cell needs something above 2 — and the only pip that big still available is a 3. That pins the 1/3 tile: it lies flat with 1 in the blue cell and 3 in the green cell.
5
Step 5: The last tile drops into the top-right
That leaves the 1/2 tile for the uncoloured square and the purple greater 1 cell. It stands vertically: 1 in the uncoloured square at the top-right, 2 directly below in the purple greater 1 cell, comfortably clearing its minimum.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level
1
Step 1: Read the single cells first
Nine regions on the hard board are single cells, and a sum on one cell simply names its pip. So the top-left corner reads 4 (blue sum 4), and the orange sum 1, blue sum 5, purple sum 5 at the centre, purple sum 3, orange sum 0 on the right, pink sum 5 at the bottom-left and orange sum 2 at the bottom-right all announce themselves. The pink less 3 cell is down to 0, 1 or 2.
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Step 2: The top-left corner resolves sideways
The blue sum 4 corner has only one open neighbour — the left cell of the pink sum 7 pair — so the 4/4 double lies flat across it: 4 in the corner, 4 in the pink's left cell. The pink pair now needs 3, and the 1/3 tile delivers while pushing its 1 into the first cell of the teal equals run along the top-right. The run's remaining two cells simply take the 1/1 double.
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Step 3: Doubles around the right side
The blue sum 5 cell takes the 5 of the 5/6 tile, its 6 landing in the left cell of the green equals pair. That pair needs a matching 6, and the 6/0 tile stands vertically to give it — 6 up in the pair's right cell, 0 down in the orange sum 0 cell. Over in the purple unequal block at the top-left, the top-right cell holds the 6 of the 6/1 tile with its 1 settling the orange sum 1 beside it, and the 2/0 tile stands vertically at the block's left: 0 in the top-left cell, 2 in the bottom-left.
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Step 4: The middle singles pair up
The teal unequal pair on the right takes the 1/4 tile standing vertically, 1 in the upper cell and 4 in the lower — different values, as the region insists. In the centre, the purple sum 5 cell and the pink less 3 cell to its right are joined by the 2/5 tile lying flat: 5 on the left where the sum demands it, 2 on the right where anything under 3 will do.
5
Step 5: The bottom-right column totals two
The green sum 2 column of three down the bottom-right is the tightest shape still open — three cells adding to 2 must be 0, 1 and 1. The 0/1 tile stands vertically for the top two, 0 in the upper cell and 1 in the middle, and the 1/2 tile lies flat along the bottom with its 1 in the column's lowest cell while its 2 slips left into the orange sum 2 cell.
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Step 6: The bottom-left block and the last pair
Everything remaining lives in the bottom-left. The 2/2 double stands vertically in the blue less 11 block's left column; the 3/3 tile lies flat across the block's middle row, one 3 inside the block and the other in the purple sum 3 cell to its right; and the 5/3 tile lies flat along the block's bottom, 5 in the pink sum 5 cell and 3 in the block's bottom-right cell, bringing the block to 10 — just under its ceiling of 11. The teal greater 8 pair along the bottom finally takes the 3/6 tile, 3 on the left and 6 on the right for a total of 9.
💡 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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