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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 is a five-tile warm-up from Ian Livengood on a compact board: three of its six regions are single cells, and the teal sum 2 tucked into the top-left corner is a genuine giveaway. The one real bottleneck is the purple sum 12 pair, which needs two sixes — you have to spot which tile can legally supply the second. Expect two or three minutes and no forks; today's NYT Pips easy is a confidence-builder, not a trap.
Medium, from Rodolfo Kurchan, doubles the tray to seven tiles across fourteen cells. Two single-cell regions — the green sum 6 at the bottom and the orange greater 4 on the right — hand you the opening moves immediately, but the bottleneck is the teal equals block in the middle: three cells, one repeated value, and it touches both a greater-3 pair and a greater-5 pair. Find the 6, follow the equals chain sideways, and the bottom row falls in a single pass. Medium-hard if you stall on the equals; otherwise a clean ten-minute solve.
Hard is a proper step up: fourteen dominoes over twenty-eight cells, sixteen regions and seven single cells scattered around the edges. The bottleneck is the purple equals block in the centre — four cells repeating one pip, and whatever you commit to there decides how the orange sum 7 pair, the pink greater 8 pair and the two sum 3 singles resolve. The teal sum 0 pair on the left is the friendliest entry point; after that it becomes a cascade of outside-in placements with very little backtracking. Budget fifteen to twenty minutes.
💡 Progressive Hints
Try these hints one at a time. Each hint becomes more specific to help you solve it yourself!
💡 Hunt for the lone cells first
Before you touch a tile, find the regions with only one square to fill. This board gives you three of them, and their constraint types are a sum, a less-than and a greater-than. A single cell has to carry its whole target alone, so the sum is the tightest of the three — start there.
💡 The corner 2 has nowhere to hide
The teal sum 2 cell is wedged into the top-left corner, and a corner cell touches just one neighbour — the left half of the purple sum 12 pair directly below it. Only two tiles in the tray carry a 2 at all, so the domino covering that corner is already half decided before you reason any further.
💡 Full answer for the easy board
Stand the 2/6 tile vertically in the top-left corner: 2 up in the teal sum 2 cell, 6 down in the left half of the purple sum 12 pair. The purple needs a second 6, which has to come up from the cell above it — and the only 6 that can sit under a pink pip is the 3/6 tile, so stand it vertically with 3 up in the pink equals block and 6 down in the purple. Equals now demands three 3s: the 3/5 tile lies flat across the top row, 3 on the left into the pink's top-right cell and 5 on the right into the blue greater 5 pair. The pink's bottom-right cell takes the 3 from the 3/2 tile lying flat, with 2 stepping right into the orange less 3 cell. The last column takes the 1/6 tile upright — 1 above in the blue greater 5 pair, 6 below in the green greater 5 cell.
💡 Two giveaways among the singles
Kurchan's medium opens with two single-cell regions — one a sum, one a greater-than. A lone cell has to swallow the whole target by itself, so each one names its pip outright. Locate both before you touch a pair.
💡 The tray's only 6
The green sum 6 cell sits on the bottom edge, immediately left of the teal equals block. Exactly one domino in the tray carries a 6, so that tile must cover the green cell and drop its other half sideways into the equals block — and whatever value lands there has to be repeated twice more inside teal.
💡 Full answer for the medium board
Lay the 2/6 tile flat on the bottom row: 6 on the left in the green sum 6 cell, 2 on the right in the teal equals block. Teal copies that 2, so the 2/0 tile lies flat with 2 in teal's top-left cell and 0 pushed left into the lower cell of the pink greater 3 pair. Pink then needs a 4 above the 0, and that 4 is the right half of the 4/3 tile, whose 3 sits left in the purple unequal block. Teal's remaining cell takes the 2/2 double standing vertically — 2 up in teal, 2 down in the purple greater 5 pair. The orange greater 4 cell must be a 5, supplied by the 5/4 tile standing vertical, 5 up and 4 down into the purple greater 5 pair, making that pair 2+4 = 6. Blue sum 5 takes the 2/3 tile flat, 2 left and 3 right. The purple unequal block's last two cells take the 1/0 tile flat, 1 left and 0 right, leaving 3, 1 and 0 — all different.
💡 Zero is the loudest number on this board
Scan for the region that asks for the smallest possible total and gives more than one cell to reach it. A sum of zero across a pair can only ever be two zeros, and the tray holds exactly one tile that is nothing but zeros. Constraint type to hunt: sum.
💡 The equals block wants four copies
The purple equals region in the centre is four cells wide — four cells, one repeated pip. Whatever value it settles on has to exist four times in the tray, so count your copies before committing. Meanwhile the teal sum 0 vertical pair on the left is your first placement and it removes the 0/0 double from circulation entirely.
💡 The pink greater 8 pair on the right edge
The pink greater 8 region is a vertical pair on the right side, and its upper cell is shared with the 4/4 double that also drops a 4 into the equals block. With that 4 already banked, the lower pink cell must be a 5 or a 6 for the pair to beat 8 — and the tray's doubles give you the natural shortcut.
💡 Three singles, three small pips
Three one-cell regions want small totals: a sum 1 on the right, a sum 3 on the left and a sum 3 in the centre. Each simply holds that value. The tiles that supply them — the 1/4, the 3/6 and the 3/4 — each push a 4 back into the equals block, which is exactly how the block reaches four matching cells.
💡 Full answer for the hard board
Left side: the 0/0 double stands vertically in the teal sum 0 pair, 0 upper and 0 lower. The blue sum 3 single cell takes the 3 from the 3/6 tile standing vertically, with 6 up in the uncoloured square above it. The purple sum 3 vertical pair at the top-left takes the 1/2 tile upright, 1 upper and 2 lower. The pink sum 5 horizontal pair takes the 2/3 tile flat, 2 left and 3 right. The teal greater 4 single cell takes the 5 from the 5/2 tile lying flat, its 2 slipping right into the upper cell of the orange sum 7 pair. Centre: all four purple equals cells read 4 — the 3/4 tile puts 3 left in the green sum 3 cell and 4 right; the 4/4 tile puts 4 left and 4 right into the upper cell of the pink greater 8 pair; the 1/4 tile puts 4 left and 1 right in the blue sum 1 cell; the 4/5 tile puts 5 left into the lower orange sum 7 cell (2+5=7) and 4 right. Right edge: the 5/5 double lies flat for the pink greater 8 pair, 5 left in the lower cell and 5 right in the uncoloured square (4+5=9); the orange unequal pair takes the 4/6 tile standing vertically, 6 upper and 4 lower. Bottom: the purple sum 3 three-cell block takes the 2/0 tile flat (2 and 0) plus the 1/3 tile flat, 3 out left in the uncoloured square and 1 right, giving 2+0+1=3; the green equals pair at the bottom-right takes the 2/2 double flat, 2 left and 2 right.
🎨 Pips Solver
Oct 31, 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
1
Step 1: The corner sum locks the 2/6 tile
The teal sum 2 cell is a true corner — its only neighbour is the cell directly below it in the purple sum 12 pair. Whatever covers it must give it exactly 2, and the tray holds just two twos: the 2/6 tile and the 3/2 tile. Try the 3/2 first and the 2 lands in the corner with 3 below, leaving the purple pair needing 9 from one cell, which no tile can do. So the 2/6 tile stands vertically, 2 up in teal and 6 down in the purple.
2
Step 2: Sum 12 forces a second 6
The purple pair now shows 6 in its left half, so its right-hand cell needs 6 too. That cell can only be reached from the pink equals block above it, since its other neighbour is already taken, so the domino must stand vertically with 6 low and its partner high in the pink. Two tiles carry a 6 alongside a pink pip: the 1/6 and the 3/6. A 1 in the equals block would demand three 1s, and the tray's only 1 is that very tile, so it is the 3/6 — 3 up in the pink's top-left cell, 6 down in the purple.
3
Step 3: The equals block spreads its 3s
Pink is now pinned to 3, so both of its remaining cells need a 3. The 3/5 tile lies flat along the top row: 3 on the left filling the pink's top-right cell, 5 on the right dropping into the left half of the blue greater 5 pair. The 3/2 tile lies flat along the bottom row: 3 on the left completing the pink block, 2 on the right in the orange less 3 cell, which 2 satisfies with room to spare.
4
Step 4: One column left, check every total
Only the far-right column is empty now, and the 1/6 tile fits it upright: 1 above in the right half of the blue greater 5 pair, 6 below in the green greater 5 cell. Run the checks — blue comes to 5+1 = 6, comfortably over 5; green is a lone 6, also over 5; purple is 6+6 = 12; pink is 3-3-3; orange holds a single 2, under 3. Every constraint lands and the tray is empty.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level
1
Step 1: The green 6 names itself
The green sum 6 region is a single cell on the bottom edge, so nothing can share the load — it holds 6. Scan the tray: the 2/6 tile is the only domino carrying a 6, which means it has to cover this cell. The 6 stays on the left in green; the 2 goes on the right, straight into the bottom-left corner of the teal equals block.
2
Step 2: The equals block copies the 2
All three teal cells must match, and one already reads 2, so the whole block reads 2. The top-left teal cell can only be reached from its left neighbour in the pink greater 3 pair, so the 2/0 tile lies flat there — 2 on the right inside teal, 0 on the left in the pink's lower cell.
3
Step 3: Orange's single cell wants a 5
The orange greater 4 region is one cell on the right, so it must hold 5 or 6. The only 6 in the tray is already working in green, which leaves 5 — and the 5/4 tile is the sole tile with a 5 on it. Stand it vertically: 5 up in the orange cell, 4 down in the right-hand cell of the purple greater 5 pair.
4
Step 4: Pink needs a 4 above the 0
The pink pair's lower half reads 0, so its upper half has to beat 3 on its own. The only remaining tile with a 4 is the 4/3, which lies flat along the top row: 4 on the right in the pink's upper cell, 3 on the left tucked into the top-right corner of the purple unequal block.
5
Step 5: Close out the bottom row
Teal's last cell takes the 2/2 double standing vertically — 2 up inside teal, 2 down in the left half of the purple greater 5 pair, whose 2+4 = 6 clears 5. Blue sum 5 takes the 2/3 tile flat, 2 left and 3 right. That leaves the purple unequal block's final two cells for the 1/0 tile, lying flat with 1 left and 0 right, so the block reads 3, 1, 0 — three different values, constraint met, tray empty.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level
1
Step 1: Sum zero means two zeros
The teal sum 0 pair on the left is the tightest thing on the board: two cells that must add to nothing, so both are 0. The 0/0 double is the only all-zero tile in the tray, so it stands vertically there, 0 in the upper cell and 0 in the lower cell.
2
Step 2: The equals block commits to 4
The purple equals region in the centre is four cells sharing one value, and each of those cells must pair outward with a neighbour outside the block. Count the tray and 4 is the value you can supply four times over. The cleanest start is the 4/4 double, lying flat so one 4 fills the block's top-right cell and the other crosses the region boundary into the upper cell of the pink greater 8 pair on the right edge.
3
Step 3: Pink greater 8 finishes at 9
With 4 banked in the pink pair's upper cell, the lower cell has to be at least 5 for the total to beat 8 — and 4 alone would only reach 8, which fails. The 5/5 double is made for this: it lies flat with 5 in the pink's lower cell and 5 spilling into the uncoloured free square on the right edge. 4+5 = 9, and the constraint is satisfied.
4
Step 4: Three singles, three extra 4s
Now pick off the one-cell regions. The green sum 3 in the centre takes its 3 from the 3/4 tile lying flat, which hands its 4 back to the block's top-left cell. The blue sum 3 on the left takes its 3 from the 3/6 tile standing vertically, its 6 going up into the uncoloured square above. The blue sum 1 on the right takes its 1 from the 1/4 tile lying flat, its 4 going left into the block's middle-left cell. Three of the block's four cells now read 4.
5
Step 5: The sum 7 pair completes the block
The teal greater 4 single cell on the left needs a pip above 4, and the 5/2 tile fits: 5 sits in the single cell and 2 slips right into the upper cell of the orange sum 7 pair. That pair now needs 5 below, which arrives with the 4/5 tile lying flat — 5 on the left in the orange pair (2+5 = 7), 4 on the right in the block's bottom-left cell. The equals block is complete at four 4s.
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Step 6: Sweep up the remaining pairs
The purple sum 3 vertical pair at the top-left takes the 1/2 tile upright, 1 upper and 2 lower. The pink sum 5 horizontal pair takes the 2/3 tile flat, 2 left and 3 right. The orange unequal pair on the right takes the 4/6 tile standing vertically, 6 upper and 4 lower — two different values, so the constraint holds. The purple sum 3 three-cell block at the bottom takes the 2/0 tile flat for its 2 and 0, plus the 1/3 tile flat with 3 out left into the uncoloured square and 1 into the block, giving 2+0+1 = 3. Finally the green equals pair at the bottom-right takes the 2/2 double flat, 2 left and 2 right.
💡 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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