Pips hints and answers for Thursday, October 29, 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 14 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 that are almost pinned: two cells must each add to less than 1, so both can only be 0 - one sits in the top row, column 2, and the other in row 3, column 2.
The only multi-cell region on the board sits in row 3: its two cells, columns 3 and 4, must add to 10, and the tray makes that total with a 4 beside a 6.
Place the 0-5 domino across the top row, columns 2-3: the 0 satisfies the less-than-1 cell and the 5 takes the blank cell beside it. The 1-6 domino stands in column 4, rows 2-3, its 1 under the less-than-3 mark and its 6 completing the 10.
The Easy solution
The solved Easy board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 0-5 across row 1, columns 2-3 · 4-5 down column 1, rows 2-3 · 1-6 down column 4, rows 2-3 · 0-4 across row 3, columns 2-3 · 3-6 across row 4, columns 2-3
- Less than 1 0 = 0
- Greater than 4 5 = 5
- Less than 3 1 = 1
- Less than 1 0 = 0
- Adds to 10 4 + 6
- Greater than 5 6 = 6
- No rule 3 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 bent four-cell equals region in the center of the board, running through rows 2-4 and columns 2-3: every cell in it is a 6, supplied by the 6-6 double plus one half each from two more dominoes carrying a 6.
The three-cell column on the far left, rows 2-4, must add to just 3, and it reads 1, 0, 2 from top to bottom, so only the smallest halves in the tray can go there. The single cell in row 4, column 4 must be less than 1, so it can only be 0.
The 6-6 domino stands in column 3, rows 3-4, supplying two of the four 6s in the equals region. The other two arrive on the 6-3 domino lying across row 2, with its 6 in column 3, and the 6-4 domino standing in column 2, with its 6 in row 3.
The Medium solution
The solved Medium board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 1-6 down column 1, rows 1-2 · 6-4 down column 2, rows 2-3 · 6-3 across row 2, columns 3-4 · 2-0 down column 1, rows 3-4 · 6-6 down column 3, rows 3-4 · 5-0 down column 4, rows 3-4 · 1-2 down column 2, rows 4-5
- Adds to 3 1 + 0 + 2
- Greater than 3 4 = 4
- All equal 6 = 6 = 6 = 6
- Less than 5 2 + 1 = 3
- Less than 1 0 = 0
- 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.
Start with the two equals regions: four cells in rows 3-5, columns 6-7, are all 6s, and three cells lower down - row 5, column 5, plus row 6, columns 5-6 - are all 3s.
The four-cell region in the top-right corner must add to 8, and it reads 0, 4, 4, 0: the 0-4 domino lies across the top row, columns 7-8, and the 2-4 domino across the row below puts its 4 in column 7 and its 2 under the less-than-3 mark in column 6.
The not-equal column in column 3, rows 4-6, reads 1, 5, 0 from top to bottom, all different as the rule requires: the 1 arrives on the 1-3 domino lying across row 4, and the 5 and 0 stack beneath it in that column on the 0-5 domino.
The Hard solution
The solved Hard board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 4-0 across row 1, columns 7-8 · 2-4 across row 2, columns 6-7 · 6-0 across row 2, columns 8-9 · 1-5 down column 1, rows 3-4 · 3-5 across row 3, columns 2-3 · 2-6 across row 3, columns 7-8 · 1-3 across row 4, columns 3-4 · 6-6 down column 7, rows 4-5 · 0-5 down column 3, rows 5-6 · 4-3 across row 5, columns 4-5 · 3-6 down column 6, rows 5-6 · 3-2 across row 6, columns 4-5 · 0-3 down column 4, rows 7-8 · 0-1 across row 9, columns 4-5
- Adds to 8 0 + 4 + 4 + 0
- Less than 3 2 = 2
- Adds to 6 6
- Greater than 5 1 + 5 = 6
- Greater than 7 3 + 5 = 8
- All equal 6 = 6 = 6 = 6
- Greater than 1 2 = 2
- All different 1, 5, 0
- Adds to 7 3 + 4
- All equal 3 = 3 = 3
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 3 0 + 3
- No rule 2 cells in blank regions, free to take any value