Pips hints and answers for Sunday, November 8, 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, a Medium board by Livengood with 8 dominoes, and a Hard board by Rodolfo Kurchan with 15 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.
This board turns on one equals region: the three cells down column 2, rows 1-3 must all hold the same value. Two pairs must add to exactly 8: row 1, columns 3-4, and column 5, rows 1-2. Two singles must beat their target rather than hit it: row 1, column 1 must beat 4, and so must row 1, column 6 at the other end of the top row. One cell carries no rule at all: row 3, column 5.
The equals trio is three 2s. The sum-8 pair across the top row reads 3 and 5, the sum-8 pair down column 5 reads 6 and 2, and both singles that must beat 4 are 6s.
The 6-2 domino lies across row 1, columns 1-2, its 2 opening the equals trio, and the 2-2 domino stands in column 2, rows 2-3, completing it. The 3-5 domino lies across row 1, columns 3-4, closing the first sum at 8. The 6-6 domino lies across row 1, columns 5-6, its first 6 opening the second sum and its second 6 beating 4 at the edge, and the 2-3 domino stands in column 5, rows 2-3, its 2 closing that sum at 8 and its 3 resting in the free cell.
The Easy solution
The solved Easy board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 6-2 across row 1, columns 1-2 · 3-5 across row 1, columns 3-4 · 6-6 across row 1, columns 5-6 · 2-2 down column 2, rows 2-3 · 2-3 down column 5, rows 2-3
- Adds to 8 6 + 2
- Adds to 8 3 + 5
- All equal 2 = 2 = 2
- Greater than 4 6 = 6
- Greater than 4 6 = 6
- No rule 1 cell in blank regions, free to take any value
Medium board - hints
Hint 0 of 3By Ian Livengood · Tap to show one hint at a time.
Start with the two equals pairs: column 2, rows 1-2 must match each other, and so must column 5, rows 1-2. The pair across row 1, columns 3-4 adds to exactly 11, the pair down column 2, rows 3-4 adds to exactly 2, and so does the pair down column 5, rows 3-4. Two singles are pinned outright: row 2, column 1 is exactly 4, and row 4, column 6 is exactly 4. The pair down column 1, rows 3-4 adds to less than 3, the single at row 2, column 6 must beat 3, and one cell carries no rule at all: row 3, column 6.
Both equals pairs are decided early: column 2 holds two 6s and column 5 holds two 2s. The sum-11 pair reads 6 and 5, both sum-2 pairs are pairs of 1s, the less-than-3 pair reads 0 and 1, and the single that must beat 3 is a 6.
The 6-6 domino lies across row 1, columns 2-3, opening the column 2 equals pair and the sum-11 pair at once, and the 5-2 domino lies across row 1, columns 4-5, its 5 closing the sum at 11 and its 2 opening the column 5 equals pair. The 6-1 domino stands in column 2, rows 2-3, its 6 completing the equals pair and its 1 opening the sum-2 pair below it, and the 1-1 domino lies across row 4, columns 1-2, its second 1 closing that sum at 2 and its first 1 completing the less-than-3 pair in column 1. The 4-0 domino stands in column 1, rows 2-3, its 4 on the pinned single and its blank opening the less-than-3 pair. The 2-1 domino stands in column 5, rows 2-3, its 2 completing the equals pair and its 1 opening the second sum-2 pair, and the 1-4 domino lies across row 4, columns 5-6, its 1 closing that sum at 2 and its 4 landing on the pinned single in the corner. The 6-3 domino stands in column 6, rows 2-3, its 6 beating 3 and its 3 resting in the free cell.
The Medium solution
The solved Medium board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 6-6 across row 1, columns 2-3 · 5-2 across row 1, columns 4-5 · 4-0 down column 1, rows 2-3 · 6-1 down column 2, rows 2-3 · 2-1 down column 5, rows 2-3 · 6-3 down column 6, rows 2-3 · 1-1 across row 4, columns 1-2 · 1-4 across row 4, columns 5-6
- Adds to 11 6 + 5
- All equal 6 = 6
- All equal 2 = 2
- Adds to 2 1 + 1
- Adds to 2 1 + 1
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 4 4
- Less than 3 0 + 1 = 1
- Greater than 3 6 = 6
- No rule 1 cell 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 board turns on its zeros: one four-cell region - row 2, column 4 together with row 3, columns 4-6 - must add to exactly 0, which forces every one of its cells to be blank. Two equals regions run down the left side: row 3, columns 1-2 with row 4, column 1 must all match, and so must row 5, column 1 with row 6, columns 1-3. At the other end, the pair across row 2, columns 5-6 adds to exactly 10, the three cells down column 6, rows 4-6 add to exactly 8, and a scatter of one-cell regions pin their cells to exact values: 4 at row 1, column 1, 4 at row 1, column 3, 6 at row 1, column 4, 6 at row 2, column 1 and 1 at row 2, column 3.
Every cell in the sum-to-zero region is a blank, and both equals regions are uniform too: the upper one is three blanks, and the lower one is four 2s. The sum-10 pair is two 5s. The caps fall into place around them: row 1, column 5 holds a 2 under its less-than-3 cap, row 5, column 5 holds a 3 under its less-than-4 cap, and the pair across row 6, columns 4-5 reads 1 and 4, adding to 5 under a less-than-6 cap.
The 0-4 domino lies across row 1, columns 1-2, its 4 on the pinned 4 and its blank opening the two-cell sum-3 region in column 2, and the 6-4 domino lies across row 1, columns 3-4, its 4 on the pinned 4 and its 6 on the pinned 6. The 5-2 domino stands in column 5, rows 1-2, its 2 under the less-than-3 cap at the top and its 5 opening the sum-10 pair, and the 4-5 domino stands in column 6, rows 1-2, its 4 on the pinned single and its 5 completing the sum at 10. The 0-6 domino stands in column 1, rows 2-3, its 6 on the pinned 6 and its blank opening the upper equals region, and the 0-3 domino stands in column 2, rows 2-3, its 3 closing the sum-3 region and its blank joining the equals blanks. The 1-0 domino lies across row 2, columns 3-4, its 1 on the pinned 1 and its blank opening the sum-to-zero region, and the 0-0 domino lies across row 3, columns 4-5, deep in the zero region. The 0-5 domino stands in column 6, rows 3-4, its blank closing the zero region and its 5 opening the sum-8 column, and the 1-5 domino stands in column 3, rows 3-4, its 1 and 5 adding to exactly 6 down that column. The 0-2 domino stands in column 1, rows 4-5, its blank completing the upper equals region and its 2 opening the lower one, and the 2-2 domino lies across row 6, columns 1-2, inside the lower equals region. The 1-2 domino lies across row 6, columns 3-4, its 2 completing the lower equals region and its 1 opening the less-than-6 pair, and the 4-1 domino lies across row 6, columns 5-6, its 4 closing that pair at 5 and its 1 closing the sum-8 column at 8. The 2-3 domino lies across row 5, columns 5-6, its 3 under the less-than-4 cap and its 2 adding into the sum-8 column.
The Hard solution
The solved Hard board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 0-4 across row 1, columns 1-2 · 6-4 across row 1, columns 3-4 · 5-2 down column 5, rows 1-2 · 4-5 down column 6, rows 1-2 · 0-6 down column 1, rows 2-3 · 0-3 down column 2, rows 2-3 · 1-0 across row 2, columns 3-4 · 1-5 down column 3, rows 3-4 · 0-0 across row 3, columns 4-5 · 0-5 down column 6, rows 3-4 · 0-2 down column 1, rows 4-5 · 2-3 across row 5, columns 5-6 · 2-2 across row 6, columns 1-2 · 1-2 across row 6, columns 3-4 · 4-1 across row 6, columns 5-6
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 3 0 + 3
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 6 6
- Less than 3 2 = 2
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 6 6
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 0 0 + 0 + 0 + 0
- Adds to 10 5 + 5
- All equal 0 = 0 = 0
- Adds to 6 1 + 5
- Adds to 8 5 + 2 + 1
- All equal 2 = 2 = 2 = 2
- Less than 4 3 = 3
- Less than 6 1 + 4 = 5