NYT Pips Hint, Answer & Solution for October 28, 2025

Oct 28, 2025

🚨 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

DOMINO GRID CHALLENGE | October 28, 2025 (Tuesday)

Three precision-engineered logic puzzles await your analytical skills today.

PUZZLE SPECIFICATIONS:

→ Easy Mode (ID: 249) | 4 dominoes | 6 regions | Constructor: Heidi Erwin

→ Medium Mode (ID: 247) | 7 dominoes | 8 regions | Constructor: Heidi Erwin

→ Hard Mode (ID: 252) | 13 dominoes | 10 regions | Constructor: Ian Livengood

The difficulty progression is methodical: Easy introduces fundamental sum-based constraints across a compact grid. Medium escalates with equality relationships, greater-than conditions, and strategic empty spaces demanding advanced pattern recognition. Hard deploys the full arsenal - 13 dominoes spanning a 5×6 grid with complex sum targets (up to 20), less-than constraints, and multiple interconnected regions.

Editor Ian Livengood curated today's collection to test your logical deduction from foundational concepts to expert-level spatial reasoning.

OBJECTIVE: Place all dominoes to satisfy regional constraints.

DATA POINT: Solutions available for verification and skill assessment.

Track your solve times. Analyze your logic paths. Dominate the grid.

💡 Progressive Hints

Try these hints one at a time. Each hint becomes more specific to help you solve it yourself!

💡 Hint #1 - Red Number (5)
Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 3-0, placed horizontally; 1-2, placed vertically.
💡 Hint #1 - Equal
Confirmed by neighboring area and remaining dominoes and relative position. The domino halves in this space must be 1.
💡 Hint #1 - Observe
Based on the image, observe the shapes and domino pip counts. The domino halves in the Number (20) area must be 5+5+5+5 or 5+5+6+4 or 6+6+4+4. Only 2 domino halves that contain 4 pips. The domino with the number 2-3 must placed in Number (9) area. When it is unclear, take the first step boldly.
💡 Hint #2 - Light Blue Number (5)
Everything in this space must add up to 20. Confirmed by neighboring area and remaining dominoes. When it is unclear, take the first step boldly. e.g: The answer is 6-6, placed horizontally; 4-5, placed vertically; 4-3, placed horizontally.
💡 Hint #3 - Purple Number (20)
Everything in this space must add up to 20. Confirmed by neighboring area and remaining dominoes with 5 pips. The domino halves in this space must be 5.
💡 Hint #4 - Number (9)
Everything in this space must add up to 9. Confirmed by step 1 and remaining dominoes. The other domino halves in this space must be 1+1+2.

🎨 Pips Solver

Oct 28, 2025

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 October 28, 2025 – 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 October 28, 2025 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
Based on the image, observe the shapes and domino pip counts.
2
Step 2: Red Number (5)
Everything in this space must add up to 5. Confirmed by neighboring area and remaining dominoes with 0 pips. The answer is 3-0, placed horizontally; 1-2, placed vertically.
3
Step 3
Based on the last image, finished.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level

1
Step 1
Based on the image, observe the shapes and domino pip counts.
2
Step 2: Number (2)
Confirmed by relative position. The answer is 1-1, placed horizontally.
3
Step 3: Equal
Confirmed by neighboring area and remaining dominoes and relative position. The domino halves in this space must be 1. The answer is 4-1, placed horizontally; 1-6, placed vertically; 5-1, placed vertically; 1-0, placed vertically.
4
Step 4
Based on the last image, finished.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level

1
Step 1
Based on the image, observe the shapes and domino pip counts. The domino halves in the Number (20) area must be 5+5+5+5 or 5+5+6+4 or 6+6+4+4. Only 2 domino halves that contain 4 pips. The domino with the number 2-3 must placed in Number (9) area. When it is unclear, take the first step boldly.
2
Step 2: Number (1)
Confirmed by neighboring area and the dominoes with 1 pips. The answer is 1-3, placed horizontally.
3
Step 3: Light Blue Number (5)
Everything in this space must add up to 20. Confirmed by neighboring area and remaining dominoes. When it is unclear, take the first step boldly. e.g: The answer is 6-6, placed horizontally; 4-5, placed vertically; 4-3, placed horizontally.
4
Step 4: Equal
Confirmed by step 1 and step 3 and relative position, the domino halves in this space must be 3. Only one domino halves left that contain 3 pips. The answer is 3-5, placed horizontally.
5
Step 5: Purple Number (20)
Everything in this space must add up to 20. Confirmed by neighboring area and remaining dominoes with 5 pips. The domino halves in this space must be 5. The answer is 5-5, placed horizontally; 5-0, placed horizontally.
6
Step 6: Number (9)
Everything in this space must add up to 9. Confirmed by step 1 and remaining dominoes. The other domino halves in this space must be 1+1+2. e.g: The answer is 1-5, placed horizontally; 1-6, placed vertically; 2-3, placed horizontally.
7
Step 7: Number (17)
Everything in this space must add up to 17. Confirmed by step 4 and remaining dominoes. The answer is 2-5, placed vertically; 5-6, placed vertically.
8
Step 8
Based on the last image, finished. There is no single correct answer to this 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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