Pips hints and answers for Thursday, October 8, 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 also by Livengood with 8 dominoes, and a Hard board by Rodolfo 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.
Three vertical equals pairs run through rows 2-3, one in each column, and four single cells are pinned around them: the cell at row 1, column 3 must add to exactly 0, the cell at row 4, column 1 must add to exactly 0, the cell at row 1, column 2 must beat 4, and the cell at row 4, column 2 must beat 5.
The column 2 equals pair is all 5s, arriving on two dominoes: the 5-5 domino stands in column 2, rows 1-2, with its top 5 also clearing the greater-than-4 cell, and the 1-5 domino lies across row 3, columns 2-3, with its 5 in column 2 and its 1 completing the column 3 equals pair.
The column 1 equals pair is all 3s from the 3-3 domino standing in column 1, rows 2-3. The bottom row is the 0-6 domino lying across columns 1-2: its 0 fills the pinned zero cell, and its 6 beats 5. The last cell, at row 1, column 3, is the 0 of the 0-1 domino standing in column 3, rows 1-2.
The Easy solution
The solved Easy board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 5-5 down column 2, rows 1-2 · 0-1 down column 3, rows 1-2 · 3-3 down column 1, rows 2-3 · 1-5 across row 3, columns 2-3 · 0-6 across row 4, columns 1-2
- Greater than 4 5 = 5
- Adds to 0 0
- All equal 3 = 3
- All equal 5 = 5
- All equal 1 = 1
- Adds to 0 0
- Greater than 5 6 = 6
Medium board - hints
Hint 0 of 3By Ian Livengood · Tap to show one hint at a time.
Start with the pair across row 3, columns 1-2, which must add to 9, and the equals pair beside it across columns 4-5, which must match. A three-cell region in the top-left - row 1, columns 1-2, plus the cell below the second of them - must add to just 2, the pair standing in column 3, rows 2-3, must add to 7, and a four-cell region built from row 4, columns 1-3, plus the cell below the middle one must add to 8.
The sum-9 pair reads 4 beside 5, arriving on two dominoes: the 4-2 domino stands in column 1, rows 3-4, with its 4 on top, and the 5-0 domino stands in column 2, rows 2-3, with its 5 at the bottom and its 0 completing the tiny top-left region. The equals pair is all 3s on two dominoes: the 3-5 domino standing in column 4, rows 3-4, and the 3-1 domino standing in column 5, rows 3-4.
The sum-8 region is all 2s: its row 4 cells read 2, 2, 2 from the bottom of the 4-2 domino, the 2-2 domino standing in column 2, rows 4-5, and the 2-1 domino standing in column 3, rows 3-4, whose 1 completes the sum-7 pair under the 6 of the 5-6 domino standing in column 3, rows 1-2.
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 across row 1, columns 1-2 · 5-6 down column 3, rows 1-2 · 5-0 down column 2, rows 2-3 · 4-2 down column 1, rows 3-4 · 2-1 down column 3, rows 3-4 · 3-5 down column 4, rows 3-4 · 3-1 down column 5, rows 3-4 · 2-2 down column 2, rows 4-5
- Adds to 2 1 + 1 + 0
- Adds to 7 6 + 1
- Adds to 9 4 + 5
- All equal 3 = 3
- Adds to 8 2 + 2 + 2 + 2
- Adds to 6 5 + 1
- 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.
This Hard board is built like the other Kurchan specials: 32 regions for 32 cells, and every cell is a single-cell sum region that names its own value exactly. Read the numbers printed on the board as a map, and place dominoes by value first and by shape second.
Seven cells are zeros, and they cluster: three across row 2, columns 3-5, three more in row 4 at columns 1, 2 and 6, and one at row 5, column 4. One pair of them is covered together by the tray's only zero double, the 0-0 domino lying across row 4, columns 1-2; every other zero pairs with a nonzero half. The tray holds three doubles in all: 0-0, 3-3 and 4-4.
The bottom row shows the pattern: its four filled cells, columns 2-5, read 3, 3, 2, 4, arriving from the 3-3 domino lying across columns 2-3 and the 4-2 domino lying across columns 4-5, with its 4 in column 5 and its 2 in column 4.
The Hard solution
The solved Hard board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 3-2 down column 2, rows 1-2 · 4-0 down column 3, rows 1-2 · 1-4 across row 1, columns 4-5 · 6-4 down column 1, rows 2-3 · 1-0 down column 4, rows 2-3 · 0-3 across row 2, columns 5-6 · 6-3 across row 3, columns 2-3 · 3-4 down column 5, rows 3-4 · 0-5 down column 6, rows 3-4 · 0-0 across row 4, columns 1-2 · 3-1 across row 4, columns 3-4 · 4-5 across row 5, columns 1-2 · 0-2 across row 5, columns 3-4 · 4-4 across row 5, columns 5-6 · 3-3 across row 6, columns 2-3 · 4-2 across row 6, columns 4-5
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 6 6
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 6 6
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 4 4