Pips hints and answers for Friday, October 30, 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 13 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 column of equals on the right edge: the three cells in column 4, rows 1-3, must all match, and the pair in column 3, rows 2-3, must match too. At the other side, a three-cell region built from row 3, columns 1-2, plus the cell below the first of them, must total less than 1, so every cell in it is a 0 - and the single cell at row 4, column 4 must also be less than 1.
The right-hand equals column is all 5s, and the less-than region is all 0s: the 0s spend the tray's only double-zero plus one more 0 half, and the last pinned cell, at row 4, column 4, is the fourth 0 on the board.
The 5-5 domino stands in column 4, rows 1-2, and the 5-0 domino stands directly beneath it in rows 3-4: its 5 completes the equals column and its 0 fills the pinned cell at the bottom. The 0-0 domino stands in column 1, rows 3-4, and the 0-1 domino lies across row 3, columns 2-3, its 0 finishing the less-than region and its 1 starting the smaller equals pair, which the 3-1 domino completes with its own 1 in row 2, column 3.
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 4, rows 1-2 · 3-1 across row 2, columns 2-3 · 0-0 down column 1, rows 3-4 · 0-1 across row 3, columns 2-3 · 5-0 down column 4, rows 3-4
- All equal 5 = 5 = 5
- All equal 1 = 1
- Less than 1 0 + 0 + 0 = 0
- Less than 1 0 = 0
- No rule 1 cell 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 pinned singles along the top and left edges: the cell at row 1, column 1 must add to exactly 1, the cell beside it at row 1, column 2 must beat 2, and the cell at row 3, column 1 must beat 3. On the right, two pairs standing in columns 5 and 6 must add to 7 and 4.
The pair standing in column 2, rows 2-3, must total less than 3, and it reads 2 over 0. The equals pair across row 2, columns 3-4, is all 3s, arriving from two different dominoes.
The 2-1 domino stands in column 1, rows 1-2, its 1 filling the sum-1 cell on top and its 2 below it. The 4-0 domino lies across row 3, columns 1-2: its 4 beats 3 in the first cell and its 0 completes the less-than pair above it. The 2-2 domino stands in column 6, rows 2-3, making the sum-4 pair entirely on its own.
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 · 2-3 down column 2, rows 1-2 · 3-3 down column 3, rows 2-3 · 5-3 across row 2, columns 4-5 · 2-2 down column 6, rows 2-3 · 4-0 across row 3, columns 1-2 · 2-0 across row 3, columns 4-5
- Adds to 1 1
- Greater than 2 3 = 3
- Less than 3 2 + 0 = 2
- All equal 3 = 3
- Adds to 7 5 + 2
- Adds to 4 2 + 2
- Greater than 3 4 = 4
- 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 hands you a map: nearly every marked region is a single cell that names its own value exactly - the whole of row 3, columns 3-9, reads 5, 3, 0, 4, 4, 6, 4 - so place dominoes by value first, and let the few multi-cell regions settle the pairing.
The one equals region - row 4, columns 1-2, plus row 5, column 2 - is all 6s: the 6-6 domino lies across row 4, columns 1-2, and the third 6 arrives on the 2-6 domino lying across row 5, columns 2-3, whose 2 in column 3 completes the sum-6 pair standing in that column.
The 6-1 domino stands in column 7, rows 1-2: its 6 fills the pinned 6 at the top and its 1 satisfies the less-than-2 cell beneath it. Lower down, the 3-3 domino lies across row 6, columns 3-4, totaling 6 under its less-than-7 mark, and the sum-9 pair across row 4, columns 5-6, reads 5 beside 4, from the 0-5 and 4-5 dominoes.
The Hard solution
The solved Hard board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 6-1 down column 7, rows 1-2 · 3-0 across row 2, columns 8-9 · 3-5 across row 3, columns 3-4 · 0-5 down column 5, rows 3-4 · 4-4 across row 3, columns 6-7 · 6-4 across row 3, columns 8-9 · 6-6 across row 4, columns 1-2 · 4-3 across row 4, columns 3-4 · 4-5 down column 6, rows 4-5 · 2-1 down column 7, rows 4-5 · 2-6 across row 5, columns 2-3 · 3-3 across row 6, columns 3-4 · 4-1 across row 6, columns 7-8
- Adds to 6 6
- Less than 2 1 = 1
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 6 6
- Adds to 4 4
- All equal 6 = 6 = 6
- Adds to 6 4 + 2
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 9 5 + 4
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 6 5 + 1
- Less than 7 3 + 3 = 6
- Adds to 5 1 + 4
- No rule 1 cell in blank regions, free to take any value