Pips hints and answers for Thursday, October 1, 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. Thursday's three boards were edited by Ian Livengood: an Easy board by Livengood with 5 dominoes, a Medium board by Rodolfo Kurchan with 7 dominoes, and a Hard board also by Kurchan with 16 dominoes. 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.
Start with the single cells and the big equals block: row 1, column 1 must be less than 4, and row 4, column 4 must beat 4. The four cells at row 2, column 1, row 3, columns 1-2 and row 4, column 1 must all match each other. Two pairs must each add to 10: the pair across row 2, columns 2-3, and the pair across row 3, columns 3-4.
The equals block is all 0s, arriving on three dominoes: the 1-0 domino standing in column 1, rows 1-2, whose 0 sits at row 2, the 0-0 domino standing in column 1, rows 3-4, and the 0 at row 3, column 2, the start of the 0-4 domino lying across row 3, columns 2-3. The less-than-4 cell at the top is the 1 of that 1-0 domino.
Both sum-10 pairs are built from a 4 and a 6: the row 2 pair is the 4-6 domino lying across columns 2-3, with its 6 in column 2 and its 4 in column 3, and the row 3 pair reads 4 beside 6, the 4 from the 0-4 domino and the 6 at the top of the 5-6 domino standing in column 4, rows 3-4, whose 5 fills the greater-than-4 cell at the bottom.
The Easy solution
The solved Easy board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 1-0 down column 1, rows 1-2 · 4-6 across row 2, columns 2-3 · 0-0 down column 1, rows 3-4 · 0-4 across row 3, columns 2-3 · 5-6 down column 4, rows 3-4
- Less than 4 1 = 1
- All equal 0 = 0 = 0 = 0
- Adds to 10 6 + 4
- Adds to 10 4 + 6
- Greater than 4 5 = 5
Medium board - hints
Hint 0 of 3By Rodolfo Kurchan · Tap to show one hint at a time.
Start with the pair standing in column 2, rows 1-2, which must match each other, and the pair standing in column 3, rows 2-3, which must beat 9 together. The four cells at row 2, columns 4-5, plus row 3, columns 4-5, must total less than 7 together. Single cells carry their own rules: row 3, column 1 must add to exactly 4, row 4, column 2 must be less than 4, and row 4, column 4 must be less than 3.
The equals pair is all 1s, on the 1-1 domino standing in column 2, rows 1-2 on its own. The greater-than-9 pair reads 4 over 6 on the 4-6 domino standing in column 3, rows 2-3. The less-than-7 block reads 0, 4, 1, 1: the 0 at row 2, column 4 is the bottom of the 6-0 domino standing in column 4, rows 1-2, whose 6 sits in the empty cell at the top, the 4 over 1 in column 5 is the 4-1 domino standing in rows 2-3, and the 1 at row 3, column 4 is the top of the 2-1 domino standing in column 4, rows 3-4.
The pinned 4 at row 3, column 1 is the start of the 4-5 domino lying across row 3, columns 1-2, whose 5 sits in the empty cell beside it. At the bottom, the 3-5 domino lying across row 4, columns 2-3 puts its 3 in the less-than-4 cell and its 5 in the empty cell, and the 2 at row 4, column 4, the bottom of the 2-1 domino, fills the less-than-3 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: 1-1 down column 2, rows 1-2 · 6-0 down column 4, rows 1-2 · 4-6 down column 3, rows 2-3 · 4-1 down column 5, rows 2-3 · 4-5 across row 3, columns 1-2 · 2-1 down column 4, rows 3-4 · 3-5 across row 4, columns 2-3
- All equal 1 = 1
- Greater than 9 4 + 6 = 10
- Less than 7 0 + 4 + 1 + 1 = 6
- Adds to 4 4
- Less than 4 3 = 3
- Less than 3 2 = 2
- No rule 3 cells 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.
Almost every cell on this board is pinned on its own: only three cells carry no rule - row 3, column 1, row 4, column 1, and row 6, column 4. Every other cell must add to exactly the number pinned for it, so the tray has to supply each value in exactly the right place: the top row reads 1, 1, 2, 2 in columns 2-5, row 2 reads 5, 2, 3, 3, 6, 5 across, and the bottom row reads 6, 6 and 4 in columns 2, 3 and 5.
The columns do much of the work, because most dominoes stand upright: column 2 reads 1 over 2 on the 1-2 domino in rows 1-2 and 6 over 1 on the 1-6 domino in rows 4-5, column 3 reads 1 over 3 on the 1-3 domino in rows 1-2 and 0 over 2 on the 2-0 domino in rows 4-5, and column 4 reads 2 over 3 on the 2-3 domino in rows 1-2 and 3 over 6 on the 3-6 domino in rows 3-4.
Across the middle and the edges: the 3-5 domino standing in column 1, rows 2-3, and the 4-1 domino standing in column 1, rows 4-5, supply the empty cells 3 and 4 in column 1, the 0-0 domino lying across row 3, columns 2-3, fills both pinned zeros, and the right edge is finished by the 2-6 domino standing in column 5, rows 1-2, the 5-6 domino standing in column 5, rows 3-4, the 1-5 domino standing in column 6, rows 2-3, and the 6-0 domino standing in column 6, rows 4-5. The bottom is closed by the 6-6 domino lying across row 6, columns 2-3, the 2-4 domino lying across row 6, columns 4-5, and the 2-5 domino lying across row 5, columns 4-5.
The Hard solution
The solved Hard board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 1-2 down column 2, rows 1-2 · 1-3 down column 3, rows 1-2 · 2-3 down column 4, rows 1-2 · 2-6 down column 5, rows 1-2 · 3-5 down column 1, rows 2-3 · 1-5 down column 6, rows 2-3 · 0-0 across row 3, columns 2-3 · 3-6 down column 4, rows 3-4 · 5-6 down column 5, rows 3-4 · 4-1 down column 1, rows 4-5 · 1-6 down column 2, rows 4-5 · 2-0 down column 3, rows 4-5 · 6-0 down column 6, rows 4-5 · 2-5 across row 5, columns 4-5 · 6-6 across row 6, columns 2-3 · 2-4 across row 6, columns 4-5
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 6 6
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 6 6
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 6 6
- Adds to 6 6
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 6 6
- Adds to 6 6
- Adds to 6 6
- Adds to 4 4
- No rule 3 cells in blank regions, free to take any value