Pips hints and answers for Saturday, October 10, 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. Saturday's three boards were edited by Ian Livengood: an Easy board by Livengood with 5 dominoes, a Medium board also by Livengood with 7 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.
One single cell is pinned exactly: the cell at row 1, column 2 must add to exactly 1. Two pairs must each add to 10 - one across row 2, columns 2-3, and one across the bottom row, columns 2-3 - and the pair across row 3, columns 1-2, must match each other.
The row 2 pair reads 6 beside 4, arriving on two dominoes: the 6-1 domino stands in column 2, rows 1-2, with its 1 on top filling the pinned cell, and the 4-4 domino stands in column 3, rows 2-3.
The bottom pair also reads 5 beside 5, but the two 5s arrive on different dominoes: the 0-5 domino stands in column 2, rows 3-4, with its 0 completing the equals pair in row 3, and the 6-5 domino lies across the bottom row, columns 3-4, with its 6 in the cell that must beat 1.
The Easy solution
The solved Easy board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 6-1 down column 2, rows 1-2 · 0-2 down column 1, rows 2-3 · 4-4 down column 3, rows 2-3 · 0-5 down column 2, rows 3-4 · 6-5 across row 4, columns 3-4
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 10 6 + 4
- All equal 0 = 0
- Greater than 2 4 = 4
- Adds to 10 5 + 5
- Greater than 1 6 = 6
- 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.
Start with the two equals pairs in row 2 - columns 1-2 must match each other, and columns 3-4 must match each other - and the two greater pairs: the pair across the top row, columns 2-3, must beat 9, and the pair across the bottom row, columns 1-2, must beat 9. The single cell at row 3, column 2 must stay under 3.
The first equals pair is all 3s from the 3-3 domino lying across row 2, columns 1-2. The second pair is all 1s arriving on two dominoes: the 1-4 domino standing in column 3, rows 1-2, and the 1-2 domino standing in column 4, rows 2-3.
The pair standing in column 3, rows 3-4, must add to 9, and it reads 5 over 4: the 5-2 domino lies across row 3, columns 2-3, with its 5 in column 3, and the 4-4 domino lies across the bottom row, columns 3-4.
The Medium solution
The solved Medium board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 6-5 across row 1, columns 1-2 · 1-4 down column 3, rows 1-2 · 3-3 across row 2, columns 1-2 · 1-2 down column 4, rows 2-3 · 5-2 across row 3, columns 2-3 · 6-4 across row 4, columns 1-2 · 4-4 across row 4, columns 3-4
- Greater than 9 6 + 4 = 10
- All equal 3 = 3
- All equal 1 = 1
- Less than 3 2 = 2
- Adds to 9 5 + 4
- Adds to 6 2 + 4
- Greater than 9 4 + 6 = 10
- 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.
Five cells are zeros, and they anchor the board: the top row, column 4, the pair at row 2, columns 5-6, the cell at row 3, column 2, and the cell at row 5, column 3. Every zero must pair with a nonzero half, since there is no 0-0 domino in the tray.
There are no doubles on this board at all: every domino pairs two different numbers. The bottom row shows the pattern - its four filled cells, columns 2-5, read 4, 5, 1, 5, arriving from the 1-4 domino standing in column 2, the 0-5 domino standing in column 3, and the 1-5 domino lying across 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: 3-4 down column 2, rows 1-2 · 0-3 across row 1, columns 3-4 · 0-4 down column 5, rows 1-2 · 2-4 down column 1, rows 2-3 · 1-2 across row 2, columns 3-4 · 0-2 down column 6, rows 2-3 · 0-1 across row 3, columns 2-3 · 1-3 across row 3, columns 4-5 · 4-5 down column 1, rows 4-5 · 3-5 across row 4, columns 2-3 · 2-3 down column 4, rows 4-5 · 3-6 across row 4, columns 5-6 · 1-4 down column 2, rows 5-6 · 0-5 down column 3, rows 5-6 · 2-5 across row 5, columns 5-6 · 1-5 across row 6, columns 4-5
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 6 6
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 5 5