Pips hints and answers for Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Pips is the NYT domino logic game: place every domino from the tray so that each 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. Today brings three boards, edited by Ian Livengood: an Easy board by Livengood with 5 dominoes, then Medium and Hard boards by Rodolfo Kurchan with 7 and 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 two less-than pairs standing at the top of the board: the pair in column 1, rows 1-2, must add to less than 3, and the pair in column 6, rows 1-2, must add to less than 2, so only the lowest halves in the tray can go there.
The equals pair across the bottom row, columns 2-3, is two 4s arriving on two different dominoes: the 1-4 lying across that row and the 6-4 standing in column 2.
Place the 0-0 domino down column 6, rows 1-2, and the 1-1 domino down column 1, rows 1-2. The pair across the bottom row, columns 4-5, must add to 3, and it reads 1 beside 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: 1-1 down column 1, rows 1-2 · 0-0 down column 6, rows 1-2 · 6-4 down column 2, rows 3-4 · 2-5 down column 5, rows 3-4 · 1-4 across row 4, columns 3-4
- Less than 3 1 + 1 = 2
- Less than 2 0 + 0 = 0
- All equal 4 = 4
- Adds to 3 1 + 2
- No rule 2 cells in blank regions, free to take any value
Medium board - hints
Hint 0 of 3By Rodolfo Kurchan · Tap to show one hint at a time.
Start with the two bent trios at the top: three cells - row 1, columns 1-2, plus row 2, column 2 - must add to 8, and three more - row 1, column 3, plus row 2, columns 3-4 - must all be equal.
Three single cells are pinned almost exactly: the cell in row 3, column 2 must be less than 1, so it can only be 0; the cell in row 4, column 1 must beat 0; and the cell in row 4, column 4 must be exactly 3.
The equals trio is three 5s: the 5-5 domino lies across row 2, columns 3-4, and the third 5 arrives from the 5-3 domino lying across the top row, columns 2-3, with its 5 in column 3. The pair standing in column 3, rows 3-4, must add to 5, and it is the 1-4 domino: 1 on row 3, 4 on row 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: 2-1 down column 1, rows 1-2 · 5-3 across row 1, columns 2-3 · 0-4 down column 2, rows 2-3 · 5-5 across row 2, columns 3-4 · 6-0 down column 1, rows 3-4 · 1-4 down column 3, rows 3-4 · 2-3 down column 4, rows 3-4
- Adds to 8 1 + 3 + 4
- All equal 5 = 5 = 5
- Less than 1 0 = 0
- Adds to 5 1 + 4
- Greater than 0 6 = 6
- Adds to 3 3
- 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.
This Hard board is built from single cells: 31 of its 32 cells carry an exact number as a single-cell sum region, and the one remaining cell, in row 3, column 3, has no rule at all. Read the printed numbers as a map and place dominoes by value first.
There are no doubles in the tray: every domino pairs two different numbers. The top row shows the pattern - its four filled cells, columns 2-5, read 3, 4, 5, 2, arriving from the 1-3 domino standing in column 2, the 4-5 lying across columns 3-4, and the 2-4 standing in column 5.
The one blank cell, row 3, column 3, takes a 6: the 3-6 domino stands in column 3, rows 2-3, with its 3 in row 2 and its 6 on the blank cell. The bottom row, row 6, reads 5, 1, 1, 4 across columns 2-5.
The Hard solution
The solved Hard board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 1-3 down column 2, rows 1-2 · 4-5 across row 1, columns 3-4 · 2-4 down column 5, rows 1-2 · 0-4 down column 1, rows 2-3 · 3-6 down column 3, rows 2-3 · 0-5 down column 4, rows 2-3 · 0-2 down column 6, rows 2-3 · 2-3 down column 2, rows 3-4 · 3-4 down column 5, rows 3-4 · 1-5 down column 1, rows 4-5 · 0-1 across row 4, columns 3-4 · 0-3 down column 6, rows 4-5 · 2-5 down column 2, rows 5-6 · 1-2 down column 3, rows 5-6 · 3-5 across row 5, columns 4-5 · 1-4 across row 6, columns 4-5
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 4 4
- No rule 1 cell in blank regions, free to take any value