🚨 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
Easy — Ian Livengood builds today's NYT Pips easy around dead ends rather than arithmetic. Two of its singleton regions touch exactly one other cell on the board, so the tile that reaches them has nowhere else to run, and the pink equals triple can only be completed by the tray's lone double, because its bottom-left cell borders nothing outside the block. It is a board where the shape of the grid, not the size of the numbers, tells you where to start.
Medium — Livengood's mid-week board is a longer conversation: eight tiles, a flat double that only becomes visible once you count a corner block, a lone 6 with a single legal landing spot, and an equals pair that borrows its value from the pair next door. The orange sum-4 cell and the uncoloured square work as pressure valves, quietly absorbing the short pips the rest of the grid refuses.
Hard — Rodolfo Kurchan goes the opposite direction: thirty-two single-cell regions, a tray that is nearly the complete set of distinct pairs from 0 through 5, and not one multi-cell region to lean on. Nothing can be read from inside a region, so the solve becomes a pip census — how many 0s the board demands against how many the tray owns, and which pips are left over once every target is met. The three uncoloured squares are where that surplus must land, and they are the whole puzzle in miniature.
💡 Progressive Hints
Try these hints one at a time. Each hint becomes more specific to help you solve it yourself!
💡 Start with the rule types
Two regions here are equals regions, and two are single cells summing to the same tiny target. Work the equals ones first — matching pips can be counted straight off the tray, and they decide how the sums get fed.
💡 The pink block and the purple cell above it
The pink equals block in the top-left needs three identical pips, and the tray holds exactly three of one value, spread across just two tiles. The purple greater-3 cell hangs directly above the block's top-right cell and is fed by the taller of those two tiles.
💡 Full layout
The 4/1 lies flat across the top of the teal equals pair — 4 on the left in the teal's upper cell, 1 on the right in the orange sum-1 cell. The 2/4 stands vertically just left of it, 4 up in the purple greater-3 cell and 2 down in the top-right cell of the pink equals block, so the whole block reads 2: the 2/2 stands vertically down the block's left column, 2 up in the top-left cell and 2 down in the bottom-left cell. Along the bottom, the 4/5 stands vertically — 4 up in the teal pair's lower cell, 5 down in the right cell of the blue sum-8 pair — and the 1/3 stands vertically at the bottom-left, 3 up in the blue pair's left cell and 1 down in the green sum-1 cell. That gives the teal pair 4 + 4 and the blue pair 3 + 5.
💡 Open with the equals regions
The board holds two equals-type constraints: the green three-cell block in the bottom-left corner and the blue vertical pair just above it. Matching pips are the least ambiguous thing you can count, so start there rather than with the sum cells.
💡 Count the corner block
The green equals block is the fastest lock. No single tile covers all three of its cells, so one domino has to lie along the block's bottom row and the third pip must drop in from the orange sum-4 cell above. Because equals insists on identical pips, that flat domino must be a double — and the tray only offers two, so the block's value is one of two numbers, decided by what the blue pair next door needs.
💡 Full layout
The 5/5 lies flat along the bottom row of the green equals block — 5 on the left in its bottom-left cell, 5 on the right in its bottom-right cell — and the 4/5 stands vertically above, 4 up in the orange sum-4 cell, 5 down in the block's top-left cell, so all three greens read 5. On the left, the 3/3 stands vertically: 3 up in the left cell of the pink sum-5 pair, 3 down in the upper cell of the blue equals pair. The 3/4 lies flat one row lower — 3 on the left in the blue pair's lower cell, 4 on the right in the purple greater-3 cell. The 2/1 stands vertically above pink: 1 up in the left cell of the purple sum-2 pair, 2 down in the pink pair's right cell, making pink 3 + 2. The 0/1 stands vertically in the teal block, 0 down in its top-left cell and 1 up in the right cell of the purple sum-2 pair, so both purple cells read 1. The 4/1 stands vertically at the teal block's right column — 4 up in its top-right cell, 1 down in its bottom-right cell, giving teal 0 + 4 + 1. And on the far right the 6/3 stands vertically: 3 up in the uncoloured square, 6 down in the pink greater-5 cell in the bottom-right corner.
💡 Read the tray as a pip census
Almost every region here is a single cell with a sum target, and the targets are all tiny. Begin with the smallest ones — the constraint type that admits only one possible pip — and remember that the tray is close to a complete set of pairs, so every pip has to be accounted for somewhere.
💡 Count the zeros
Before placing anything, notice that five cells want a sum of 0: the teal cell at the very top, the orange ones at the top-right and mid-board, the pink one in the bottom-left corner and the blue one in the bottom-right corner. The tray holds exactly five 0-pips, each on its own tile, so no other cell on the board can ever be a 0.
💡 Then count the surplus
Now audit the rest of the tray. It carries six 3s against only five 3-cells, five 1s against four 1-cells, and a single 6 that no region can legally hold, since every target is 5 or less. Those three spare pips have to live in the three uncoloured squares in the left half of the board — so those squares hold exactly a 6, a 3 and a 1.
💡 The free squares take shape
The 3/6 fixes that trio: its 6 sits in the middle uncoloured square and its 3 hangs below it in the teal sum-3 cell. The spare 1 goes into the uncoloured square on the left edge of that middle row, with a 4 rising out of it into the blue sum-4 cell above; the spare 3 goes into the square directly below, with a 0 dropping from it into the pink sum-0 corner.
💡 Full layout
Top rows: the 3/5 stands vertically at the left of the top row, 5 up in the purple sum-5 cell and 3 down in the green sum-3 cell; the 0/2 lies flat to its right, 2 on the left in the pink sum-2 cell and 0 on the right in the teal sum-0 cell; the 4/5 lies flat next along, 4 on the left in the purple sum-4 cell and 5 on the right in the pink sum-5 cell; the 1/5 stands vertically at the top-right, 5 up in the orange sum-5 cell and 1 down in the teal sum-1 cell. On the left edge of the second row the 1/4 stands vertically, 4 up in the blue sum-4 cell and 1 down in the uncoloured square below. Third row: the 3/6 stands vertically in the left half, 6 up in the middle uncoloured square and 3 down in the teal sum-3 cell; the 0/4 stands vertically in the centre, 4 up in the blue sum-4 cell and 0 down in the orange sum-0 cell; the 1/2 lies flat beside it, 2 on the left in the green sum-2 cell and 1 on the right in the purple sum-1 cell; the 0/5 stands vertically on the right edge, 0 up in the orange sum-0 cell and 5 down in the pink sum-5 cell. Bottom half: the 0/3 stands vertically on the left, 3 up in the uncoloured square and 0 down in the pink sum-0 corner; the 2/4 lies flat, 2 on the left in the teal sum-2 cell and 4 on the right in the orange sum-4 cell; the 3/4 stands vertically, 3 up in the blue sum-3 cell and 4 down in the blue sum-4 cell; the 1/3 stands vertically, 3 up in the green sum-3 cell and 1 down in the green sum-1 cell; the 2/3 stands vertically on the right, 3 up in the purple sum-3 cell and 2 down in the purple sum-2 cell; the 2/5 lies flat along the bottom row, 2 on the left in the pink sum-2 cell and 5 on the right in the teal sum-5 cell; and the 0/1 lies flat in the bottom-right corner, 1 on the left in the orange sum-1 cell and 0 on the right in the blue sum-0 corner.
🎨 Pips Solver
Sep 26, 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 orange dead end
The orange sum-1 cell in the top-right corner is the tightest thing on the board. It has only one neighbour — the upper cell of the teal equals pair — so the tile that fills it must run in from the left, and the pip it drops there is a 1. Two tiles in the tray carry a 1, so don't commit to either one yet.
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Step 2: The pink equals block
The pink equals block's bottom-left cell also has just one neighbour, the block's top-left cell. One domino has to span those two, and because equals demands matching pips it must be a double. The tray's only double is the 2/2, so the block's value is 2: the 2/2 stands vertically, 2 up in the top-left cell and 2 down in the bottom-left cell.
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Step 3: The purple greater-3 cell
The purple greater-3 cell sits directly above the block's top-right cell and borders nothing else, so the same tile that drops a 2 into pink has to carry it. The 2/4 is the only remaining tile with a 2, and its 4 clears the greater-3 rule, so it stands vertically: 4 up in purple, 2 down in pink.
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Step 4: The teal pair and the bottom band
Three tiles left, and the bottom locks itself. The green sum-1 cell at the bottom-left is another dead end — its only neighbour is the blue pair's left cell — so the 1/3 stands vertically there, 1 down in green and 3 up in blue. The blue pair still needs 8, so its right cell takes the 5, which means the 4/5 stands vertically with 4 up in the teal pair's lower cell and 5 down in blue. That leaves the 4/1 lying flat across the top of the teal pair, 4 left in the teal's upper cell and 1 right in the orange sum-1 cell, and the teal pair reads 4 + 4.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level
1
Step 1: The cell only a 6 can fill
The pink greater-5 cell in the bottom-right corner needs a pip above 5, and the tray contains exactly one 6 — on the 6/3. So that tile stands vertically in the far-right column: 6 in the bottom-right corner cell, 3 up in the uncoloured square above it. Nothing else in the tray can satisfy that region.
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Step 2: Split the purple sum-2 pair
The purple pair along the top row must total 2, and there is no 1/1 double in the tray, so its two cells are filled by two different tiles. The 0/1 and the 2/1 are the candidates, and their partners fall straight down — the 0 into the teal block's top-left cell, the 2 into the right cell of the pink sum-5 pair.
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Step 3: Pink forces the blue pair
The pink sum-5 pair sits directly under the purple pair, and its right cell already holds the 2 that came down from the 2/1, so its left cell must be a 3. That is the 3/3 standing vertically: 3 up in pink's left cell, and its twin 3 down in the upper cell of the blue equals pair.
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Step 4: Blue pair and the greater-3 cell
Equals makes the blue pair's lower cell a 3 as well. The 3/4 lies flat across the bottom of the pair — 3 on the left in blue, 4 on the right in the purple greater-3 cell, which is content with anything above 3. Meanwhile the teal block has 0 in its top-left cell and needs 5 across the other two: the 4/1 stands vertically at its right edge, 4 up in the top-right cell and 1 down in the bottom-right cell.
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Step 5: Green block and the orange cell
The green equals block in the bottom-left needs one tile spanning two of its cells and one pip fed from above. With the 3/3 already spent, the tray's last double is the 5/5, so that lies flat along the block's bottom row. The orange sum-4 cell above is a single cell demanding a 4, so the 4/5 stands vertically there: 4 up in orange, 5 down into the block's top-left cell. All three greens now read 5 and the orange cell reads 4.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level
1
Step 1: The 2 that can only travel one way
The pink sum-2 cell on the bottom row sits beside a teal sum-5 cell and below a teal sum-2 cell. Its pip must be a 2, and every 2-bearing tile except one drags a partner that those neighbours cannot accept. Only the 2/5 works, so it lies flat: 2 on the left in pink, 5 on the right in the teal cell.
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Step 2: The purple 5 at the top-left
With the 2/5 spent, the purple sum-5 cell at the top-left has one route left. Its neighbours are the pink sum-2 cell to the right and the green sum-3 cell below, and among the remaining 5-bearing tiles only the 3/5 can hand a partner that either one will take. It stands vertically — 5 up in purple, 3 down in green.
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Step 3: The zero census
Five cells want a sum of 0 and the tray owns exactly five 0s, one per tile. Two of them are pinned immediately: the blue sum-0 cell in the bottom-right corner can only be reached from a sum-1 cell, so the 0/1 lies flat there (1 left in the orange sum-1 cell, 0 right in blue); and the orange sum-0 cell on the right edge only accepts a 1 or a 5 partner, which pins the 0/5 standing vertically, 0 up in orange and 5 down in the pink sum-5 cell. That forces the 0/2 into the teal sum-0 cell at the top, lying flat with 2 on the left in the pink sum-2 cell.
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Step 4: Census the surplus pips
Now add up what is left over. The tray carries six 3s against five 3-cells, five 1s against four 1-cells, and one 6 against nothing at all. Those three surplus pips are homeless unless they go into the three uncoloured squares in the left half of the board, so those squares hold exactly a 6, a 3 and a 1.
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Step 5: The 3/6 and the free column
The 6 has to sit in an uncoloured square, and the 3 riding with it must land on a cell that still wants a 3. The only neighbour of the free squares that does is the teal sum-3 cell below the middle square, so the 3/6 stands vertically: 6 up in the middle free square, 3 down in the teal cell. The spare 1 takes the free square on the left edge of that row — the 1/4, whose 4 rises into the blue sum-4 cell above — and the spare 3 takes the square directly below it, the 0/3, whose 0 drops into the pink sum-0 corner.
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Step 6: The rest falls into place
Everything else is now a chain of forced pairs. The 0/4 stands vertically in the centre, 4 up in the blue sum-4 cell and 0 down in the orange sum-0 cell. The 1/2 lies flat, 2 on the left in the green sum-2 cell and 1 on the right in the purple sum-1 cell. The 4/5 lies flat, 4 on the left in the purple sum-4 cell and 5 on the right in the pink sum-5 cell. The 1/5 stands vertically, 5 up in the orange sum-5 cell and 1 down in the teal sum-1 cell. The 3/4 stands vertically, 3 up in the blue sum-3 cell and 4 down in the blue sum-4 cell. The 1/3 stands vertically, 3 up in the green sum-3 cell and 1 down in the green sum-1 cell. The 2/3 stands vertically on the right, 3 up in the purple sum-3 cell and 2 down in the purple sum-2 cell. The 2/4 lies flat, 2 on the left in the teal sum-2 cell and 4 on the right in the orange sum-4 cell. And the 0/1 closes the corner, 1 on the left in the orange sum-1 cell and 0 on the right in the blue sum-0 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.
💬 Community Discussion
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