Pips hints and answers for Tuesday, October 13, 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. Tuesday'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 12 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.
Nearly every region on this board adds to 6, and two single cells are pinned at exactly 6: the top row, column 3, and row 2, column 1. Sixes dominate the tray, five of them in all, so count them carefully.
The equals pair standing in column 4, rows 3-4, is two 6s arriving on two different dominoes: the 6-0 standing in column 4, rows 2-3, and the 6-1 lying across the bottom row, columns 3-4.
Place the 6-6 domino across the top row, columns 3-4: the first 6 fills the single cell that must be exactly 6, and the second starts the pair in column 4 that must also add to 6, so its partner below has to be 0.
The Easy solution
The solved Easy board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 6-6 across row 1, columns 3-4 · 3-6 across row 2, columns 1-2 · 6-0 down column 4, rows 2-3 · 1-3 down column 2, rows 3-4 · 6-1 across row 4, columns 3-4
- Adds to 6 6
- Adds to 6 6 + 0
- Adds to 6 6
- Adds to 6 3 + 3
- All equal 6 = 6
- Adds to 2 1 + 1
Medium board - hints
Hint 0 of 3By Ian Livengood · Tap to show one hint at a time.
Start with the pinned singles: the top row, column 3 must beat 3, the top row, column 4 must be exactly 3, and the bottom-right cell, row 3, column 6, must be exactly 2.
The pair standing in column 3, rows 2-3, must beat 8 between them, so only a 5 and a 4 will do: the 1-5 domino lies across row 2, columns 2-3, with its 5 in column 3, and the 4 arrives from the 4-3 domino lying across row 3, columns 3-4.
The three-cell region on the left, row 2, column 2, plus row 3, columns 1-2, must add to less than 2, and it reads 1, 0, 0: the 0-0 domino lies across row 3, columns 1-2, and the 1 above it is the other half of the 1-5.
The Medium solution
The solved Medium board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 3-5 across row 1, columns 3-4 · 4-2 across row 1, columns 5-6 · 1-5 across row 2, columns 2-3 · 0-1 across row 2, columns 4-5 · 0-2 down column 6, rows 2-3 · 0-0 across row 3, columns 1-2 · 4-3 across row 3, columns 3-4
- Greater than 3 5 = 5
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 3 2 + 1
- Greater than 3 4 + 0 = 4
- Less than 2 1 + 0 + 0 = 1
- Greater than 8 5 + 4 = 9
- Less than 4 0 + 3 = 3
- Adds to 2 2
Hard board - hints
Hint 0 of 3By Rodolfo Kurchan · Tap to show one hint at a time.
Work the exact single cells first: the top-left corner must be 4, the cell beside it must be less than 2, the top row, column 4 must be exactly 1, and row 3, column 6 must be exactly 4.
Two equals regions anchor the board: the three cells down column 1, rows 2-4, are all 3s, and the pair standing in column 6, rows 1-2, is two 2s from the 2-2 domino standing there.
The pair standing in column 6, rows 5-6, must add to 10, and it is the 4-6 domino standing upright: 4 on row 5 and 6 on row 6. The bottom row finishes with the 3-1 domino across columns 7-8, the pair that adds to 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: 4-1 across row 1, columns 1-2 · 6-1 across row 1, columns 3-4 · 2-2 down column 6, rows 1-2 · 3-3 down column 1, rows 2-3 · 2-5 down column 4, rows 2-3 · 4-3 down column 6, rows 3-4 · 3-5 across row 4, columns 1-2 · 0-6 across row 4, columns 3-4 · 2-4 down column 1, rows 5-6 · 2-6 down column 4, rows 5-6 · 4-6 down column 6, rows 5-6 · 3-1 across row 6, columns 7-8
- Adds to 4 4
- Less than 2 1 = 1
- Adds to 1 1
- All equal 2 = 2
- All equal 3 = 3 = 3
- Adds to 7 2 + 5
- Adds to 4 4
- All different 5, 0, 6
- Greater than 2 3 = 3
- Less than 3 2 = 2
- Adds to 8 6 + 2
- Adds to 10 4 + 6
- Less than 5 4 = 4
- Adds to 4 3 + 1
- No rule 1 cell in blank regions, free to take any value