🚨 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
The easy grid comes from Ian Livengood, who also edits today's set, and it plays like a handshake. Three single cells are stamped 'less than 2' and two more shout 'greater than 4', so before you place a single tile you already know what the tray's extremes are going to do. In this NYT Pips easy, the whole solve hangs off the top-right corner, where one cell touches only one neighbour — spot that and the board unwinds in one-tile-at-a-time moves, with the two equals pairs as the final payoff.
Rodolfo Kurchan's medium asks you to read the tray, not just the grid. A three-cell equals block in the top-left corner refuses to commit until you have counted how many matching pips the dominoes can actually supply, while the lone sum-1 cell on the left edge hands you a free anchor whose partner has only one sensible direction. From there the logic sweeps rightward: an unequal pair in the centre, a long 'less than 12' column, and a greater-than pair that quietly insists on the tray's fattest double.
Kurchan's hard is a fourteen-domino test with three separate purple equals regions — a four-cell block top-right, a three-cell block on the right, and a vertical pair at the bottom-right — each settling on a different pip count. The pinch points are the corners: the top-left free square has a single neighbour, which gives you your opening domino, and single cells with strict inequalities pin exact pips early. Expect a middle game of comparing tray candidates before the bottom strip finally clicks shut.
💡 Progressive Hints
Try these hints one at a time. Each hint becomes more specific to help you solve it yourself!
💡 Read the strict inequalities first
Two single cells on the easy board want a pip bigger than 4, and three want something smaller than 2. Those five stamped cells are the whole opening — the inequalities pick out the tray's extremes before any sum or matching-pair logic gets a say.
💡 The corner cell with one neighbour
Now look at the purple 'less 2' single cell in the top-right corner. It touches exactly one other square, the teal 'greater 4' cell directly below it, so those two cells have to be a single domino standing vertically. Only one tile in the tray can put a big pip down in the teal cell and leave something tiny up in the purple one.
💡 Complete easy layout
The 5/0 tile stands vertically at the top-right: 5 in the teal greater-4 cell, 0 in the purple less-2 cell above it. At the bottom-right, the 2/5 tile lies flat with 5 in the purple greater-4 cell and 2 to its left in the lower blue equals cell; the upper blue cell takes the 2 from the 0/2 tile, which stands vertically with 0 in the pink less-2 cell up above it, so the blue pair reads 2 and 2. On the left, the 3/0 tile stands vertically: 0 in the orange less-2 cell, 3 below in the top green equals cell; the lower green cell takes the other 3 from the 4/3 tile, which lies flat along the bottom row — 3 on the left in the green region, 4 on the right in the uncoloured square.
💡 Start where the board talks
Two things shout on the medium grid: the lone sum-1 cell on the left edge, which names its own pip the second you scan the tray, and the three-cell equals block in the top-left corner, which stays silent until you count how many matching pips the dominoes can supply. Those two decide the whole opening.
💡 The sum-1 cell picks its neighbour
The green sum-1 cell sits beside the uncoloured square on its right and the equals block above it. Sending its partner pip upward is a dead end — the block would then need three copies of a pip the tray only holds twice — so the tile lies flat, the second pip landing in the free square, and the equals block then has to be solved on its own.
💡 Complete medium layout
The green sum-1 cell on the left edge takes 1, with the 1/2 tile lying flat: 2 in the uncoloured square to its right. The purple equals block resolves to 4s — the 4/4 double lies flat across its bottom row, and the 4/5 tile lies flat across the top-left, 4 in the block's top cell, 5 in the left cell of the pink less-7 pair. That pins the pink's other cell to 0, so the 0/5 tile stands vertically: 0 up in the pink pair, 5 down at the top of the orange less-12 column. The 3/3 double stands vertically in the column's two lower cells, and the 2/6 tile stands vertically in the teal unequal pair in the centre — 6 in the upper cell, 2 in the lower. The blue greater-8 pair on the right takes the 6/6 double standing vertically, both halves reading 6.
💡 Hunt the single cells first
Before you touch a domino, scan the hard grid for its solo squares. One wants less than 1, one demands a sum of 4, another must beat 5 — those single-cell constraints hand you exact pips, and the three purple equals regions give you the matching-value skeletons that the rest of the board is built around.
💡 The corner square with one neighbour
Look at the top-left corner: the uncoloured free square there touches exactly one other cell, the teal 'less 1' cell directly beneath it. So those two squares are a single domino, and only one tile in the tray can satisfy a cell that insists on less than 1.
💡 The 6 has only one legal home
The blue 'greater 5' cell on the left edge, third row down, needs a 6 — and the tray carries just two 6s between two tiles. Its neighbours are the green 'greater 1' cell to the right and the pink 'greater 3' cell below; since the tile holding a 6 would drop a 3 or a 1 into the cell below, which cannot beat 3, the tile must lie flat: 6 left in the blue cell, 3 right in the green cell.
💡 Settle the equals blocks
The pink sum-4 cell in the top-right corner reads 4, and its only neighbours are the four-cell purple equals block. If that block were also 4s, the corner's 4 would have to arrive on the 4/4 double and the block's other cells would each need a 4-partner with no double left to bridge them — so the block is 3s: the 3/4 tile stands vertically with 4 up in the pink corner and 3 below it, the 3/3 double lies flat across the block's top row, and the 5/3 tile puts its 3 up in the block's last cell with 5 falling into the purple three-cell block on the right. That block is therefore all 5s, completed by the 5/5 double standing vertically in its two right-hand cells.
💡 Complete hard layout
All fourteen tiles. Top-left corner: 2/0 stands vertically — 2 in the free square, 0 below it in the teal less-1 cell. Left edge, third row down: 6/3 lies flat, 6 in the blue greater-5 cell, 3 in the green greater-1 cell to its right. Further down the left edge: 1/4 stands vertically, 4 up in the pink greater-3 cell, 1 down in the teal less-2 cell. Bottom-left: 3/2 stands vertically, 3 up in the green sum-3 cell, 2 down in the uncoloured square below it. Near the top, 0/3 lies flat in the orange sum-3 pair — 0 left, 3 right. Top-right: 3/4 stands vertically, 4 up in the pink sum-4 corner, 3 down in the four-cell purple block, whose other cells are 3s from the 3/3 double lying flat across its top row and from the 5/3 tile standing vertically with 3 above and 5 below; that lower purple three-cell block is all 5s, with the 5/5 double standing vertically in its two right-hand cells. Bottom half: the 1/1 double stands vertically in the orange sum-9 block's left column (1 upper, 1 lower), the 2/5 tile stands vertically with 5 in the block's middle-right cell and 2 down in the teal sum-2 cell, and the 4/2 tile lies flat along the bottom row — 4 left in the pink sum-4 cell, 2 right in the block's bottom-left cell, so the block reads 1, 1, 5, 2. Finally the blue sum-7 pair takes the 1/6 tile lying flat (1 left, 6 right), and the 4/4 double stands vertically in the bottom-right purple pair, 4 upper, 4 lower.
🎨 Pips Solver
Sep 29, 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: Two cells demand more than four
The easy tray stops at 5 — there is no 6 anywhere in it — so the two 'greater 4' cells, the teal one near the top-right and the purple one at the bottom-right, can only be 5s. Those are the tray's only two 5s, and they live on the 5/0 and 2/5 tiles.
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Step 2: The top-right corner gives itself away
The purple 'less 2' cell at the top-right corner has exactly one neighbour, the teal 'greater 4' cell directly below it. They must be a single vertical domino, and the only tile that puts a 5 down and something below 2 up is the 5/0. So 0 goes in the purple cell, 5 in the teal cell.
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Step 3: Both equals pairs fill in
The other 5 has to sit in the purple 'greater 4' cell at the bottom-right, whose only neighbour is the blue equals cell to its left. That is the 2/5 tile lying flat: 2 in the lower blue cell, 5 in the purple cell. The equals pair now needs a 2 above it — and the pink 'less 2' cell just above that has only one free neighbour left, so the 0/2 tile stands vertically: 0 in the pink cell, 2 in the upper blue cell. Blue reads 2 and 2.
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Step 4: The left side and the bottom
The orange 'less 2' cell's only free neighbour is the top cell of the green equals pair, and the tile that fits puts a 0 above a 3 — the 3/0 standing vertically. The green's lower cell then takes the second 3 from the 4/3 tile, which lies flat along the bottom row: 3 on the left in the green region, 4 on the right in the uncoloured square. Every cell is covered.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level
1
Step 1: The sum-1 cell names itself
The green sum-1 cell on the left edge must hold 1, and the tray contains exactly one 1, on the 1/2 tile. Its partner 2 cannot go up into the purple equals block, because the block would then need three 2s and the tray only holds two — so the tile lies flat: 1 in the green cell, 2 in the uncoloured square to its right.
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Step 2: The equals block is 4s
The purple block's three cells must match, so its value has to appear three times in the tray; only 4 and 6 manage that. Take the 6s and the colours jam — the 2/6 tile would drop a 2 into the pink less-7 pair and the 4/4 double eventually has nowhere to go but across the teal unequal pair. So the block is 4s: the 4/4 double lies flat across its bottom row and the 4/5 tile lies flat across the top-left, 4 in the block's top cell, 5 in the left cell of the pink pair.
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Step 3: Pink forces the 0/5
The pink pair must total under 7 and already holds a 5, so its other cell is 0 or 1; the only 1 is already sitting in the green cell, so it is 0. That cell's only neighbour is the top of the orange column, so the 0/5 tile stands vertically: 0 up in the pink pair, 5 down at the top of the orange less-12 column.
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Step 4: The orange column's last two cells
The column's bottom cell touches only the middle cell, so those two are one domino, and with a 5 already in the column the total must stay under 12. The 3/3 double fits at 11; nothing else left in the tray does. So 3 goes upper in the middle cell and 3 lower in the bottom cell.
5
Step 5: The centre pair and the right-hand pair
Two tiles remain: 2/6 and 6/6. The blue 'greater 8' pair on the right needs a total above 8, and 2/6 would give exactly 8, so the pair takes the 6/6 standing vertically, 6 and 6. The teal unequal pair in the centre takes the 2/6 standing vertically — 6 in the upper cell, 2 in the lower, a legal unequal pair. Solved.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level
1
Step 1: The top-left pinch
Start at the very top-left corner. The uncoloured free square there has only one neighbour, the teal 'less 1' cell directly below it, so those two squares are one domino. The tray holds a single tile with a pip that can sit in a cell wanting less than 1, and that tile is the 2/0: 2 up in the free square, 0 down in the teal cell.
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Step 2: The forced 6 on the left edge
The blue 'greater 5' cell on the left edge, third row down, needs a 6, and the tray carries only two 6s, so this is a big commitment. Its neighbours are the green 'greater 1' cell to the right and the pink 'greater 3' cell below; the tiles carrying a 6 pair it with a 3 or a 1, and neither belongs in a cell that must beat 3. So the tile lies flat: 6 left in the blue cell, 3 right in the green cell.
3
Step 3: The top-right corner settles the big block
The pink sum-4 cell in the top-right corner must read 4, and its only neighbours are two cells of the four-cell purple equals block. That block cannot be all 4s: if the corner's 4 arrived with another 4 on the 4/4 double, the block's other three cells would each need a 4-partner and there is no second double to bridge them. So the 4 arrives on the 3/4 tile, standing vertically with 3 below it, and the block's value is 3: the 3/3 double lies flat across the block's top row, and the 5/3 tile stands vertically with 3 up inside the block and 5 down into the top of the purple three-cell block on the right.
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Step 4: The right-hand purple block reads 5
The three-cell purple block on the right already has a 5 in its top-left cell from the 5/3 tile, so all three cells are 5s. The 5/5 double stands vertically in its upper-right and lower-right cells, filling the block and completing the second equals region.
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Step 5: Down the left edge, then the bottom strip
The pink 'greater 3' cell pairs with the teal 'less 2' cell directly below it — only the 1/4 tile can put a big pip up and a tiny one down, so it stands vertically: 4 upper, 1 lower. Lower still, the green sum-3 cell must pair with the uncoloured square below it, and since the 0/3 tile is the only way to make the orange sum-3 pair near the top (the block's cells each have just one other free neighbour), the green cell takes the 3 from the 3/2 tile: 3 upper, 2 lower. On the bottom row, the pink sum-4 cell pairs with the orange sum-9 block's bottom-left cell — the 4/2 tile lies flat, 4 left, 2 right — while the teal sum-2 cell takes the 2 end of the 2/5 tile, standing vertically with 5 up in the block's middle-right cell. The 1/1 double stands vertically in the block's left column (1 upper, 1 lower), so the block reads 1, 1, 5, 2. That leaves the 1/6 tile lying flat in the blue sum-7 pair (1 left, 6 right) and the 4/4 double standing vertically in the bottom-right purple pair, 4 upper, 4 lower.
💡 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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