Pips hints and answers for Wednesday, November 4, 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 equals regions: three cells - row 2, column 2, and row 3, columns 2-3 - must all match, and the pair standing in column 1 (rows 2-3) must match too. Two single cells are pinned by their sums: row 1, columns 2-3 together add to 6, the single at row 2, column 4 is exactly 6, and the single at row 1, column 4 must beat 2. One cell carries no rule at all: row 2, column 3.
The three-cell equals region is all blanks, and the equals pair in column 1 is two 4s. The sum-6 pair in row 1 reads 4 and 2, and the greater-than single is a 5.
The 4-4 domino stands in column 1, rows 2-3, the equals pair. The 4-0 domino stands in column 2, rows 1-2: its 4 opens the sum-6 pair and its blank opens the equals trio. The 2-2 domino stands in column 3, rows 1-2, its top 2 completing the sum of 6 and its bottom 2 in the free cell. The 0-0 domino lies across row 3, columns 2-3, completing the trio of blanks. The 5-6 domino stands in column 4, rows 1-2, its 5 beating 2 and its 6 filling the pinned single.
The Easy solution
The solved Easy board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 4-0 down column 2, rows 1-2 · 2-2 down column 3, rows 1-2 · 5-6 down column 4, rows 1-2 · 4-4 down column 1, rows 2-3 · 0-0 across row 3, columns 2-3
- All equal 0 = 0 = 0
- All equal 4 = 4
- Adds to 6 4 + 2
- Adds to 6 6
- Greater than 2 5 = 5
- 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 at the top: the pair standing in column 2 (rows 1-2) is an unequal region - the two values must differ. Three singles are pinned exactly: row 1, column 3 is 6, row 2, column 3 is 1, and row 2, column 4 must beat 4. Across row 3, columns 1-2 must add to less than 9, a four-cell region - row 3, columns 3-4 plus row 4, columns 4-5 - must beat 10, and a three-cell region - row 4, columns 2-3 plus row 5, column 2 - must beat 12.
The unequal pair reads 2 over 4. The less-than pair adds to just 4, the four-cell greater-than region is four 3s adding to 12, and the greater-than-12 trio reads 4, 4 and 5, adding to 13.
The 6-2 domino lies across row 1, columns 2-3: its 2 opens the unequal pair and its 6 fills the pinned single. The 4-1 domino lies across row 2, columns 2-3, its 4 completing the unequal pair and its 1 filling the second pinned single. The 5-3 domino stands in column 4, rows 2-3, its 5 beating 4 and its 3 joining the big region. The 4-0 domino lies across row 3, columns 1-2, the less-than pair. The 4-3 domino stands in column 3, rows 3-4, its 3 in row 3 and its 4 in row 4, and the 5-4 domino stands in column 2, rows 4-5, its 4 in row 4 and its 5 in row 5, bringing the trio to 13. The 3-3 domino lies across row 4, columns 4-5, closing the four-cell region with two more 3s.
The Medium solution
The solved Medium board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 6-2 across row 1, columns 2-3 · 4-1 across row 2, columns 2-3 · 5-3 down column 4, rows 2-3 · 4-0 across row 3, columns 1-2 · 4-3 down column 3, rows 3-4 · 5-4 down column 2, rows 4-5 · 3-3 across row 4, columns 4-5
- All different 2, 4
- Adds to 6 6
- Adds to 1 1
- Greater than 4 5 = 5
- Less than 9 4 + 0 = 4
- Greater than 10 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 12
- Greater than 12 4 + 4 + 5 = 13
Hard board - hints
Hint 0 of 3By Rodolfo Kurchan · Tap to show one hint at a time.
This board is a wall of pinned singles: nearly every cell is its own one-cell region with an exact target printed on it, so read the targets off the board first - row 1 runs 4, 3, 3, 2, 5 and row 2 runs 5, 0, 0, 1, 1. The exceptions are three equals regions: the pair in column 6 (rows 4-5), the pair across row 6, columns 2-3, and a three-cell region - row 5, column 5, plus row 6, columns 5-6. One cell carries no rule: row 5, column 3.
The equals pair in column 6 is two 5s, the three-cell equals region is all 4s, and the pair in row 6 is two 1s. Five cells hold blanks: the free cell in row 5 and the pinned zeros at row 2, columns 2-3, row 3, column 2, and row 5, column 2 - and every blank on the board belongs to a different domino.
The 3-4 domino lies across row 1, columns 1-2, its 4 in column 1 and its 3 in column 2, and the 2-5 domino lies across row 1, columns 4-5. In row 2, the 0-5 domino lies across columns 1-2, blank in column 2, and the 0-3 domino stands in column 3, rows 1-2, its blank below and its 3 above. The 1-2 domino stands in column 4, rows 2-3, and the 1-3 domino stands in column 5, rows 2-3. The 0-2 domino lies across row 3, columns 1-2, its blank in column 2, and the 1-5 domino stands in column 3, rows 3-4, its 1 above and its 5 below. The 2-3 domino lies across row 4, columns 1-2, the 3-6 domino stands in column 4, rows 4-5, its 3 above and its 6 below filling the pinned 6, and the 3-5 domino stands in column 6, rows 3-4. The 0-1 domino stands in column 3, rows 5-6, its blank in the free cell and its 1 below, and the 1-4 domino lies across row 6, columns 4-5, its 1 completing the equals pair in that row and its 4 joining the all-4s region. The 0-4 domino stands in column 2, rows 5-6, and the 2-4 domino stands in column 5, rows 4-5. The 4-5 domino stands in column 6, rows 5-6, its 5 above and its 4 below, closing the all-4s region.
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 across row 1, columns 1-2 · 0-3 down column 3, rows 1-2 · 2-5 across row 1, columns 4-5 · 0-5 across row 2, columns 1-2 · 1-2 down column 4, rows 2-3 · 1-3 down column 5, rows 2-3 · 0-2 across row 3, columns 1-2 · 1-5 down column 3, rows 3-4 · 3-5 down column 6, rows 3-4 · 2-3 across row 4, columns 1-2 · 3-6 down column 4, rows 4-5 · 2-4 down column 5, rows 4-5 · 0-4 down column 2, rows 5-6 · 0-1 down column 3, rows 5-6 · 4-5 down column 6, rows 5-6 · 1-4 across row 6, columns 4-5
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 2 2
- All equal 5 = 5
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 6 6
- All equal 4 = 4 = 4
- Adds to 4 4
- All equal 1 = 1
- No rule 1 cell in blank regions, free to take any value