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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 (Ian Livengood) is a five-tile warm-up: a compact board, two equals pairs across the top row and a few single-cell gates. The tension sits in the top-left, where a greater-4 cell accepts exactly one tile in the whole tray, and the rest of the grid unravels from that placement. Budget two minutes — there is no fork in the logic.
Medium (Livengood again) lifts the tempo. The bottleneck is the three-cell sum pocket in the middle of the board: its target is small enough to pin two of its cells on sight, and the third has to be paid for by whatever tile crosses its corner. Solve that pocket alongside the two sum-10 pairs bracketing the grid and everything else falls in one pass. Expect one genuine stall around the halfway mark.
Hard (Rodolfo Kurchan) is a tall, sparse fifteen-tile build with no free squares at all. Two sum-0 singles and a corner sum-6 anchor the opening, while the big equals blocks — one of four cells, one of five — act as engines that dictate values across several tiles at once. This NYT Pips hard is the one to save for a quiet moment: the first two placements are crisp, then it makes you work for every tile.
💡 Progressive Hints
Try these hints one at a time. Each hint becomes more specific to help you solve it yourself!
💡 Read the ruling types first
Before you touch a tile, sort the board into kinds of constraints. Two equals pairs run along the top row, a greater-than gate and a less-than gate sit as single cells just below them, and there is a small sum pair plus a lone sum cell further down. Equals regions are the strictest: each forces two cells to share one value, which immediately tells you which tiles could ever sit on the top row.
💡 The left-edge gate hands you the first tile
The teal greater-4 cell on the left edge is the tightest single cell on this board: it can only accept a pip from the very top of the range, and exactly one tile in the tray carries such a pip. That tile must stand vertically — its high half drops into the teal cell, its low half rises into the left cell of the purple equals pair directly above, and that fixes the purple pair's repeated value. The next conclusion follows sideways: the tile bridging the purple and pink pairs along the top row has to carry that same value on its left half.
💡 The complete easy layout
Five tiles, top to bottom:
• The 5/2 tile stands vertically at the top-left: 5 drops into the teal greater-4 cell on the left edge, 2 rises into the left cell of the purple equals pair.
• The 2/1 tile lies flat across the top row, straddling the two equals pairs: 2 in the purple pair's right cell, 1 in the pink pair's left cell.
• The 0/1 tile stands vertically at the top-right: 1 rises into the pink pair's right cell, 0 drops into the orange less-4 cell below it.
• The 1/3 tile lies flat across the middle row: 3 in the upper cell of the blue sum-6 pair on the left, 1 in the green sum-1 cell at the centre of the board.
• The 3/3 double lies flat along the bottom: 3 in the lower cell of the blue sum-6 pair, 3 in the uncoloured square at the bottom.
Check: purple reads 2+2, pink reads 1+1, blue reads 3+3, and the green cell holds its 1.
💡 Small targets beat big numbers
Don't start with the pairs that want the largest totals — start with the tightest ruling on the board. A small sum region collapses its cells almost immediately, and it also tells you which tiles are spoken for, because the tray only holds so many of the very low pips. Once that region is understood, the equals regions around it give you values to hang later deductions on.
💡 The three-cell pocket in the middle
The teal three-cell sum block in the middle of the board is the anchor. Its target is low enough that two of its three cells must hold the floor value, and only the tray's two zero-carrying tiles can supply those halves — so both are spent inside this block. The third cell, the block's bottom-right corner, takes the 1 of the 2/1 tile, whose 2 half then crosses to the right into the blue equals block. Meanwhile the top pair that wants a big total has to be fed by the tray's single 6.
💡 The complete medium layout
Eight tiles:
• The 3/6 tile lies flat on the top row: 3 in the upper cell of the purple equals pair on the far left, 6 in the left cell of the pink sum-10 pair.
• The 4/0 tile stands vertically at the top row's right end: 4 in the pink pair's right cell above, 0 in the teal sum-1 block's top-left cell below.
• The 3/1 tile stands vertically directly under the 3/6 tile's left half: 3 in the purple pair's lower cell above, 1 in the left cell of the orange equals pair below.
• The 0/1 tile lies flat between the orange pair and the teal block: 1 in the orange pair's right cell, 0 in the teal block's bottom-left cell.
• The 2/1 tile lies flat across the teal to blue border: 1 in the teal block's bottom-right cell, 2 in the blue equals block's top-left cell.
• The 2/2 double stands vertically inside the blue equals block: 2 in its top-right cell above, 2 in its bottom-right cell below.
• The 3/3 double stands vertically in the green sum-6 pair at the bottom: 3 in the upper cell, 3 in the lower cell.
• The 5/5 double lies flat in the purple sum-10 pair at the bottom-right: 5 in the left cell, 5 in the right cell.
Totals: pink reads 6+4, teal reads 0+0+1, green reads 3+3, bottom-right purple reads 5+5, and the blue block reads 2 three times.
💡 Begin with the singles
Every board has a place where the ruling is absolute, and on this one it is the single-cell regions — the sum cells whose targets sit at the extremes. Find those before you look at any multi-cell block. They pin a value with no arithmetic at all, and two of them sit close enough to the big equals block to start a chain.
💡 Two zeros, one six, and one suspicious double
The two pink sum-0 cells — the one at the top of the board above the orange sum-9 pair, and the one out on the top-right edge just past the teal block's bottom corner — must both read 0. The purple sum-6 cell in the top-right corner must read 6. Now look at the teal equals block: its top-right and middle-right cells share a single tile, and since those two cells must match, that tile has to be a double.
💡 Cross the two block clues
Take the teal block's repeated value and ask where it could come from. The top-right pink 0 cell has only one neighbouring cell — the block's bottom corner — so its tile must be one of the tray's four zero-carrying tiles, and that tile's other half has to equal the block's value. The block's internal tile must be a double, and the tray only holds two of those. The two sets intersect in exactly one number, which simultaneously identifies the block's value, the double, and the corner tile feeding the sum-6 cell.
💡 The sum-9 pair feeds the equals block
Next comes the orange sum-9 pair hanging above the purple equals block. No tile in the tray carries both a 5 and a 4, and no tile pairs a 6 with a 3, so nine has to be built as 5+4 from two different tiles meeting inside the pair. One of them is the zero-carrying tile whose 0 sits in the top pink sum-0 cell; the other crosses downward into the equals block, which is how the block learns its repeated value. The block's own double then covers its two right-hand cells.
💡 The complete hard layout
All fifteen tiles:
• 6/1 stands vertically at the top-right corner: 6 in the purple sum-6 cell, 1 down in the teal block's top-left cell.
• 1/1 stands vertically inside the teal block: 1 in its top-right cell, 1 in its middle-right cell.
• 1/0 lies flat at the block's bottom corner: 1 in the block's bottom-right cell, 0 out to the right in the pink sum-0 cell.
• 0/5 stands vertically on the other pink sum-0 cell: 0 at the top, 5 down in the left cell of the orange sum-9 pair.
• 4/2 stands vertically in that same pair: 4 up in the orange sum-9 pair's right cell, 2 down in the purple equals block's top cell.
• 2/2 stands vertically inside the purple equals block: 2 in its middle-right cell, 2 in its bottom-right cell.
• 3/2 lies flat across the block's left arm: 3 in the lower cell of the orange equals pair, 2 in the purple block's bottom-left cell.
• 6/2 stands vertically: 2 up in the purple block's bottom-centre cell, 6 down in the right cell of the green sum-12 pair.
• 6/5 stands vertically: 6 up in the green sum-12 pair's left cell, 5 down in the purple sum-14 block's top-right cell.
• 4/1 stands vertically: 1 up in the blue sum-1 cell, 4 down in the purple sum-14 block's top-left cell.
• 5/3 stands vertically: 5 up in the purple sum-14 block's bottom-right cell, 3 down in the pink sum-6 run's left cell.
• 1/2 lies flat in the bottom run: 2 in its middle cell, 1 in its right cell.
• 3/4 lies flat: 4 left in the green equals pair's lower cell, 3 right in the orange equals pair's upper cell.
• 0/4 lies flat: 0 left in the blue less-8 pair's right cell, 4 right in the green equals pair's upper cell.
• 3/0 stands vertically at the left edge: 0 up in the blue less-8 pair's left cell, 3 down in the teal sum-3 cell.
Checks: teal reads 1 four times, the purple equals block reads 2 five times, orange sum-9 reads 5+4, green sum-12 reads 6+6, purple sum-14 reads 4+5+5, the bottom run reads 3+2+1, and the orange equals pair reads 3+3.
🎨 Pips Solver
Sep 19, 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: The greater-4 gate decides its own tile
The teal greater-4 cell on the left edge can only take a pip higher than four. Scan the tray: a single tile carries such a pip, the 5/2. It has to stand vertically against the left edge, because the only cell touching the teal cell is the purple equals pair's left cell above it. So 5 drops into the teal gate and 2 rises into the purple pair — and that means the purple pair's right cell is a 2 as well.
2
Step 2: The bridging tile along the top row
The purple pair's right cell needs a 2, and the only remaining tile with a 2 is the 2/1. That cell's only other neighbour is the pink pair's left cell, so the 2/1 tile lies flat across the boundary between the two equals pairs: 2 in the purple pair's right cell, 1 in the pink pair's left cell. The pink pair now repeats 1, which means its right cell is a 1 too.
3
Step 3: The less-than gate underneath the pink pair
The pink pair's right cell is a 1, and its only untouched neighbour is the orange less-4 cell below it. The 0/1 tile is the piece that fits: it stands vertically with 1 rising into the pink pair's right cell and 0 dropping into the orange cell, which happily satisfies the less-than ruling.
4
Step 4: The centre cell and the bottom pair fall into place
Two tiles are left, the 1/3 and the 3/3. The green sum-1 cell at the centre of the board must hold a 1, so the 1/3 tile lies flat with 3 in the upper cell of the blue sum-6 pair and 1 in the green cell. The blue pair now needs 3 more in its lower cell, and the 3/3 double supplies it: the double lies flat along the bottom with 3 in the blue pair's lower cell and 3 in the uncoloured square. Final board: purple reads 2+2, pink reads 1+1, blue reads 3+3, teal holds 5, orange holds 0, green holds 1, and the free square holds 3.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level
1
Step 1: The three-cell pocket has no room to manoeuvre
The teal sum-1 block in the middle of the board spans three cells. Three pips adding to one means two of them are the floor value and one carries the whole total. Only two tiles in the tray contain a floor-valued half — the 0/1 and the 4/0 — so both are committed here, and the block's remaining job is to find which of its cells takes the odd pip.
2
Step 2: The tray's single 6 sorts the two big pairs
Two regions want a total of ten from two pips: the pink pair at the top and the purple pair at the bottom-right. Ten can be built as 5+5 or 6+4, and the tray has exactly one 6, sitting on the 3/6 tile, whose partner is a 3 — useless for making ten. So the top pink pair cannot use a 6 with a 4 partner from that tile alone; instead the 5/5 double is reserved for the bottom-right purple pair, and the top pink pair must take the 6 with a 4 supplied by a second tile.
3
Step 3: Fixing the top row and the purple equals pair
The 6 must sit in the pink pair's left cell, so the 3/6 tile's 3 goes to its only other neighbour: the upper cell of the purple equals pair at the top-left. The purple pair repeats, so its lower cell is also 3 — and the only tile that can feed that cell from below is the 3/1, standing vertically with 3 up and 1 down in the left cell of the orange equals pair. The 4 for the pink pair comes from the 4/0 tile, standing vertically at the top row's right end: 4 in the pink pair's right cell, 0 down into the teal block's top-left cell.
4
Step 4: Orange equals, teal completion, and the blue block
The orange pair repeats, so its right cell is a 1, and the 0/1 tile lies flat between orange and teal: 1 in the orange pair's right cell, 0 in the teal block's bottom-left cell. The teal block now holds two zeros and needs its total, so its bottom-right cell takes the 1 of the 2/1 tile — the 2 half crossing right into the blue equals block. That makes the blue block's value 2, and the 2/2 double stands vertically to fill its top-right and bottom-right cells.
5
Step 5: The last three doubles close the board
The green sum-6 pair at the bottom is filled by the 3/3 double standing vertically, with 3 in its upper cell and 3 in its lower cell. The final tile is the 5/5 double, which lies flat in the bottom-right purple sum-10 pair — 5 in the left cell, 5 in the right cell. All three of the tray's doubles have now sealed a pair or a block, and the totals read 6+4 on pink, 0+0+1 on teal, 1+1 on orange, 2 three times on blue, 3+3 on green and 5+5 on the bottom-right purple.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level
1
Step 1: The singles give you three values for free
There are two pink sum-0 cells — one at the top of the board above the orange sum-9 pair, one out on the top-right edge — and both must read 0. The purple sum-6 cell in the top-right corner must read 6. The corner cell has exactly one neighbour, the teal equals block's top-left cell, so whichever tile carries the 6 must also drop a pip into the block.
2
Step 2: The teal block's value is forced by the zeros
Inside the teal equals block, the top-right and middle-right cells share a single tile, and since all four block cells must match, that tile has to be a double. The right-edge pink 0 cell has only one neighbouring cell, the block's bottom corner, so its tile must be one of the four zero-carrying tiles and its other half must equal the block's value. The block's value therefore has to appear both as a double and as the partner of a zero tile. Only the 1/1 double qualifies, so the block reads 1 everywhere.
3
Step 3: Place the three tiles around the block
With the block set to 1, three tiles fall immediately. The 6/1 stands vertically at the top-right corner, 6 in the purple sum-6 cell and 1 down in the block's top-left cell. The 1/1 double stands vertically inside the block, filling its top-right and middle-right cells. The 1/0 lies flat at the block's bottom corner, 1 in the block's bottom-right cell and 0 out to the right in the pink sum-0 cell.
4
Step 4: The sum-9 pair hands the equals block its value
The orange sum-9 pair above the purple equals block cannot be satisfied by one tile: nothing in the tray carries 6 with 3 or 5 with 4, so nine is built as 5+4 by two tiles meeting inside the pair. The 0/5 stands vertically on the top pink sum-0 cell, 0 up and 5 down in the pair's left cell. The 4 comes from the 4/2, standing vertically with 4 up in the pair's right cell and 2 down in the purple block's top cell — so the whole five-cell block reads 2, with the 2/2 double standing vertically in its middle-right and bottom-right cells.
5
Step 5: Green sum-12 and the purple sum-14 block
The green sum-12 pair at the centre needs both its cells at the top of the range, and the 6/5 supplies the first: 6 up in the green pair's left cell, 5 down in the purple sum-14 block's top-right cell. The 6/2 supplies the second, 2 up in the purple equals block's bottom-centre cell and 6 down in the green pair's right cell. The blue sum-1 cell takes the 1 of the 4/1, whose 4 drops into the sum-14 block's top-left cell, and the 5/3 completes the sum-14 block: 5 up in its bottom-right cell, 3 down in the pink sum-6 run's left cell. The sum-14 block now reads 4+5+5.
6
Step 6: The left column and the bottom run finish it
The green equals pair on the left reads 4 twice: the 0/4 lies flat with 0 in the blue less-8 pair's right cell and 4 in the green pair's upper cell, while the 3/4 lies flat with 4 in the green pair's lower cell and 3 in the orange equals pair's upper cell. The orange pair repeats, so its lower cell takes the 3 of the 3/2, which lies flat with its 2 ending up in the purple equals block's bottom-left cell. The last tile, 1/2, lies flat in the bottom run: 2 in its middle cell and 1 in its right cell, giving 3+2+1 for the sum-6 run. Finally the blue less-8 pair is filled by the 3/0 standing vertically at the left edge, 0 up in its left cell and 3 down in the teal sum-3 cell.
💡 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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