NYT Pips Hints & Answers for September 11, 2026

Sep 11, 2026

🚨 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.

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🎲 Today's Puzzle Overview

Easy is a confidence-builder from Ian Livengood. The tightest hook is a single-cell sum in the upper left, then a chain of equals regions down the left side; there's very little branching, so expect to move fast once you identify the first couple of forced pips. This is the day's warm-up NYT Pips solve.

Medium by Rodolfo Kurchan has a clear bottleneck running across the top of the grid. The equals pair and adjacent two-cell sum interact to force both column values before you can unlock the row of sums beneath. It plays tougher than its size because the natural first instinct is to search for a domino that sums the target directly, but the solve actually splits across two horizontal dominoes.

Hard, also from Kurchan, is a much spikier architecture. The top rows are broken into many small sum constraints, the middle is an enormous equals shelf, and the bottom ends in an unequal cluster. The bottleneck is the middle equal area: once you feed its zeros from the top deductions and force the lower less/greater pair, the bottom dominoes fall into place. It will feel harder than the medium, but the steps stay linear.

💡 Progressive Hints

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

💡 Find the loneliest sum
Start with the singled-out cell that has to satisfy a sum all on its own. That one value will reach into an adjacent empty cell and place a whole domino.
💡 Left-side equals chain
The greater-than cell at [1,0] points to the only high-pip domino that can cover it; that locks [1,1] and its vertical equals partner. Then the lower equals pair at [3,1]–[3,2] forces a small-value vertical domino next to the single-cell less region.
💡 Full easy placement
Place 3-4 across [0,1]–[0,2]; 4-5 across [1,0]–[1,1]; 5-2 vertical at [2,1]–[3,1]; 1-2 vertical at [2,2]–[3,2]; and 3-3 across [1,3]–[1,4].
💡 Top-row tug-of-war
Two vertical two-cell regions dominate the top: an equals pair and a high-target sum pair. Don't expect the high sum to be made by one domino — it splits across two horizontal neighbors.
💡 The column 2–3 handoff
The sum pair at [0,3]/[1,3] needs two identical high pips; the equals pair at [0,2]/[1,2] then forces two matching low pips. That puts the 1-5 domino across [0,2]–[0,3] and sends the 5-2 domino rightward from [1,3].
💡 Full medium chain
Place 1-5 across [0,2]–[0,3]; 5-2 across [1,3]–[1,4]; 1-6 vertical at [1,2]–[2,2]; 2-4 vertical at [2,3]–[3,3]; 3-6 vertical at [1,1]–[2,1]; 2-1 vertical at [2,0]–[3,0]; and 3-4 across [3,1]–[3,2].
💡 Small sums up top
The top of the board is chopped into tiny sum regions — several single-cell sums and two-cell sums. These are your loosest starting points, not the big cluster at the bottom.
💡 Left column arithmetic
The sums at [0,1], [0,4], and [0,5] give direct single values. Then the [0,0]/[1,0]/[2,0] column sum forces a 1-2-3 ladder, pulling the 2-2 and 0-1 dominoes into the upper-left.
💡 Right side feeds the zero shelf
The right-side two-cell sums at [1,4]/[2,4] and [1,5]/[2,5] pull the 6-0 and 4-0 dominoes down. That starts filling the huge equals region below with zeros.
💡 Middle equals pivot
The eight-cell equals region spans [3,0]-[3,5] and [4,2]-[4,3]. Once its remaining cells are locked to zero, the less-3 at [5,2] and greater-3 at [5,3] decide the 2-0 and 5-0 vertical placements.
💡 Full hard placement
Top/left: 3-1 across [0,0]-[0,1] (1 at [0,0], 3 at [0,1]); 2-2 across [1,0]-[1,1]; 3-0 vertical [2,0]-[3,0]; 1-0 vertical [2,1]-[3,1]. Top/right: 3-3 vertical [0,4]-[1,4]; 6-0 vertical [2,4]-[3,4]; 1-1 vertical [0,5]-[1,5]; 4-0 vertical [2,5]-[3,5]. Middle: 0-0 across [3,2]-[3,3]; 5-0 vertical [5,3]-[4,3]; 2-0 vertical [5,2]-[4,2]. Bottom: 2-6 vertical [8,2]-[7,2]; 5-1 vertical [8,3]-[9,3]; 3-4 vertical [7,4]-[8,4].

🎨 Pips Solver

Sep 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

Pips hint for Sept 11, 2026 – 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 Sept 11, 2026 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: Lone sum cell
The region at [0,1] is a one-cell sum targeting 3, so [0,1] must be 3. It can't pair with [1,1] without stranding the equals pair below, so it takes the 3-4 domino horizontally to [0,2], making [0,2] 4.
2
Step 2: Greater-than gate
The [1,0] greater-than constraint requires at least a 4. The only remaining candidate is the 4-5 domino, so it lies across [1,0]–[1,1], giving [1,1] the 5. That forces the vertical equals partner [2,1] to also be 5.
3
Step 3: Left-side equals dominoes
[2,1] must pair with [3,1] using 5-2, so [3,1] becomes 2. The lower equals region then demands [3,2] also be 2; the only way is the 1-2 domino vertical at [2,2]–[3,2], which also satisfies the less-than at [2,2] as 1.
4
Step 4: Finishing top right
The remaining constrained pair [1,3]–[1,4] sums to 6. The only unused domino that can do it is the 3-3, so place it horizontally there; the board is complete.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level

1
Step 1: Sum-10 anchor
The vertical two-cell sum at [0,3]/[1,3] is the bottleneck. Since no available domino itself sums to 10, these cells cannot be one vertical domino; each must be filled from the side. The only two high pips that can make 10 are a pair of 5s, so [0,3] and [1,3] both become 5.
2
Step 2: Top horizontals
With [0,3] as 5, the only viable cover is the 1-5 domino horizontally with [0,2], so [0,2] becomes 1. The equals region below makes [1,2] also 1. [1,3]'s 5 then pairs with [1,4] via the 5-2 domino, giving [1,4] 2.
3
Step 3: First row-2 sum
[1,2]=1 must pair vertically with [2,2] via the 1-6 domino, so [2,2] becomes 6. The two-cell sum at [2,2]/[2,3] then forces [2,3] to be 2.
4
Step 4: Equals chain in row 3
[2,3]=2 pairs vertically with [3,3] using the 2-4 domino, making [3,3] 4. The equals region [3,2]/[3,3] then forces [3,2] to be 4.
5
Step 5: Bottom-left sums
The sum at [2,0]/[2,1] needs 8; placing the 3-6 domino vertically at [1,1]/[2,1] gives [2,1] 6 and [1,1] 3. The 2-1 domino then covers [2,0]/[3,0], and the sum-4 region at [3,0]/[3,1] forces [3,1] to be 3. Finally the 3-4 domino closes [3,1]/[3,2].

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level

1
Step 1: Single-cell sums on top
The one-cell sums force immediate values: [0,1] must be 3, so it pairs with [0,0] using 3-1 with [0,0] as 1. [0,4] must be 3, so it pairs vertically with [1,4] via 3-3, putting another 3 in [1,4]. [0,5] must be 1, so it pairs vertically with [1,5] via 1-1, putting 1 in [1,5].
2
Step 2: Left column snowball
The vertical sum at [0,0]/[1,0]/[2,0] totals 6. With [0,0]=1, the remaining two must be 2 and 3; the 2-2 domino fits [1,0]/[1,1], giving [1,0]=2 and [1,1]=2. The sum-3 pair [1,1]/[2,1] then forces [2,1]=1, covered by the 0-1 domino with [3,1] below. The 0-3 domino closes [2,0]/[3,0].
3
Step 3: Right-side sums feed zeros
[1,4]=3 and the sum-9 region [1,4]/[2,4] force [2,4]=6. That pairs vertically with [3,4] via the 6-0 domino, putting 0 in [3,4]. Similarly, [1,5]=1 and the sum-5 region [1,5]/[2,5] force [2,5]=4; the 4-0 domino drops to [3,5] and gives 0.
4
Step 4: Equals shelf
The large equals region from [3,0] through [3,5] plus [4,2]/[4,3] must all match. From the steps above, [3,0],[3,1],[3,4],[3,5] are already 0, so it must be 0 everywhere. The 0-0 domino covers [3,2]/[3,3]. Then [5,3] greater-3 forces a 5, so the 5-0 vertical goes to [4,3] with 0; [5,2] less-3 forces a 2, so the 2-0 vertical goes to [4,2] with 0.
5
Step 5: Unequal bottom cluster
The remaining dominoes all sit inside the unequal region at rows 7–9. Because the six cells must all be distinct, the vertical pairs have to be placed as follows: 2-6 at [8,2]/[7,2], 5-1 at [8,3]/[9,3], and 3-4 at [7,4]/[8,4]. This satisfies the unequal restriction and completes the grid.

💡 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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