Pips hints and answers for Sunday, September 27, 2026
Pips is the NYT domino logic game: place every domino from the tray so that each colored region obeys its rule - a number means the pips in that region add to it, an equals region means every half in it matches, and a not-equal region means no two halves match. Sunday's three boards were edited by Ian Livengood: an Easy board by Livengood with 5 dominoes, a Medium board also by Livengood with 8 dominoes, one more than the usual seven, and a Hard board by Rodolfo Kurchan with 12 dominoes, two fewer than the usual fourteen. Each board gets its own hint ladder below, then its solved grid behind a tap.
Easy board - hints
Hint 0 of 3By Ian Livengood · Tap to show one hint at a time.
A compact 4x4 board with five dominoes and five regions: the three cells at row 1, column 3, plus row 2, columns 2-3, must all match each other, the three cells at row 3, column 1, plus row 4, columns 1-2, must add to 2, the pair across row 3, columns 2-3 must add to 10, the single cell at row 3, column 4 must beat 4, and the single cell at row 4, column 3 carries no rule at all.
The equals trio is all 3s, arriving on two dominoes: the 3-3 domino standing in column 3, rows 1-2 on its own, and the 3 at row 2, column 2, the top of the 4-3 domino standing in column 2, rows 2-3, whose 4 starts the sum-10 pair in row 3.
The sum-10 pair is completed by the 6 at row 3, column 3, the start of the 6-5 domino lying across row 3, columns 3-4, whose 5 fills the greater-than-4 cell beside it. The sum-2 trio reads 1, 1, 0: the 1-1 domino standing in column 1, rows 3-4 on its own, and the 0 at row 4, column 2, the start of the 0-2 domino lying across row 4, columns 2-3, whose 2 fills the empty cell.
The Easy solution
The solved Easy board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 3-3 down column 3, rows 1-2 · 4-3 down column 2, rows 2-3 · 1-1 down column 1, rows 3-4 · 6-5 across row 3, columns 3-4 · 0-2 across row 4, columns 2-3
- All equal 3 = 3 = 3
- Adds to 2 1 + 1 + 0
- Adds to 10 4 + 6
- Greater than 4 5 = 5
- No rule 1 cell in blank regions, free to take any value
Medium board - hints
Hint 0 of 3By Ian Livengood · Tap to show one hint at a time.
A wide board, four rows by six columns, with 8 dominoes - one more than the usual seven. Three equals regions anchor it: the three cells across row 1, columns 3-5 must all match each other, the three cells at row 2, column 3, plus row 3, columns 2-3, must all match each other, and the three cells across row 4, columns 2-4 must all match each other. Three single cells must each beat 4: row 2, column 4, row 3, column 1 and row 3, column 6. The three cells at row 3, columns 4-5, plus row 4, column 5, must add to just 1, and the single cell at row 1, column 2 carries no rule at all.
The top equals row is all 0s: the 0 at column 3 is the end of the 3-0 domino lying across row 1, columns 2-3, whose 3 fills the empty cell, and the 0-0 domino lies across columns 4-5 on its own. The middle equals trio is all 6s: the 6 at row 2, column 3 is the end of the 5-6 domino lying across row 2, columns 3-4 in reverse, whose 5 fills the greater-than-4 cell beside it, and the 6-6 domino lying across row 3, columns 1-2 supplies the other two 6s, one in the equals trio at column 2 and one in the greater-than-4 cell at column 1.
The bottom equals row is all 4s: the 4-4 domino lying across row 4, columns 2-3 on its own, and the 4 at column 4, the start of the 4-0 domino lying across columns 4-5, whose 0 joins the sum-1 trio. That trio reads 1, 0, 0: the 1 at row 3, column 4 is the start of the 1-6 domino lying across row 3, columns 3-4 in reverse, and the last 0 sits at row 3, column 5, the start of the 0-5 domino lying across columns 5-6, whose 5 fills the last greater-than-4 cell.
The Medium solution
The solved Medium board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 3-0 across row 1, columns 2-3 · 0-0 across row 1, columns 4-5 · 5-6 across row 2, columns 3-4 · 6-6 across row 3, columns 1-2 · 1-6 across row 3, columns 3-4 · 0-5 across row 3, columns 5-6 · 4-4 across row 4, columns 2-3 · 4-0 across row 4, columns 4-5
- All equal 0 = 0 = 0
- All equal 6 = 6 = 6
- Greater than 4 5 = 5
- Greater than 4 6 = 6
- Adds to 1 1 + 0 + 0
- Greater than 4 5 = 5
- All equal 4 = 4 = 4
- No rule 1 cell in blank regions, free to take any value
Hard board - hints
Hint 0 of 3By Rodolfo Kurchan · Tap to show one hint at a time.
A tall, split board, nine rows by six columns, with 12 dominoes: the top and bottom clusters are separated by an empty fifth row. One equals region and one unequal region anchor it: the three cells standing in column 1, rows 1-3, must all match each other, and the four cells at row 2, columns 5-6, plus row 3, column 5 and row 4, column 5, must all differ from each other. Everything else is a sum: the pair across row 1, columns 2-3 adds to 3, the pair standing in column 3, rows 2-3, to 8, the three cells across row 4, columns 1-3, to 3, the three cells across row 6, columns 3-5, to 8, the pair standing in column 3, rows 7-8, to 9, the pair standing in column 6, rows 7-8, to 6, and the three cells across row 9, columns 3-5, to just 1.
The equals column is all 3s, arriving on two dominoes: the 3 at row 1, column 1 is the start of the 3-1 domino lying across row 1, columns 1-2, whose 1 starts the sum-3 pair, and the 3-3 domino standing in column 1, rows 2-3 supplies the other two 3s. The sum-3 pair is completed by the 2 at row 1, column 3, the top of the 6-2 domino standing in column 3, rows 1-2, whose 6 starts the sum-8 pair in that column, completed by the 2 at row 3, column 3, the top of the 2-3 domino standing in column 3, rows 3-4. That domino's 3 completes the sum-3 row across row 4, columns 1-3, which reads 0, 0, 3 with the 0-0 domino lying across columns 1-2.
The unequal region reads 6, 5, 3, 4, all different as required: the 5-6 domino lying across row 2, columns 5-6 in reverse, 6 at column 5 and 5 at column 6, and the 4-3 domino standing in column 5, rows 3-4, 3 on top and 4 below. In the bottom cluster, the sum-8 row across row 6, columns 3-5, reads 4, 2, 2: the 4 is the top of the 4-4 domino standing in column 3, rows 6-7, and the 2-2 domino lies across columns 4-5 on its own. The sum-9 pair in column 3 is completed by the 5 at row 8, the top of the 5-0 domino standing in rows 8-9, whose 0 starts the sum-1 row at the bottom, which reads 0, 1, 0 with the 1-0 domino lying across columns 4-5. The sum-6 pair standing in column 6 reads 4 over 2 on the 4-2 domino.
The Hard solution
The solved Hard board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 3-1 across row 1, columns 1-2 · 6-2 down column 3, rows 1-2 · 3-3 down column 1, rows 2-3 · 5-6 across row 2, columns 5-6 · 2-3 down column 3, rows 3-4 · 4-3 down column 5, rows 3-4 · 0-0 across row 4, columns 1-2 · 4-4 down column 3, rows 6-7 · 2-2 across row 6, columns 4-5 · 4-2 down column 6, rows 7-8 · 5-0 down column 3, rows 8-9 · 1-0 across row 9, columns 4-5
- All equal 3 = 3 = 3
- Adds to 3 1 + 2
- Adds to 8 6 + 2
- All different 6, 5, 3, 4
- Adds to 3 0 + 0 + 3
- Adds to 8 4 + 2 + 2
- Adds to 9 4 + 5
- Adds to 6 4 + 2
- Adds to 1 0 + 1 + 0