Pips hints and answers for Sunday, November 1, 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 cells that name themselves: the single at row 1, column 5 must add to exactly 4, and the single at row 4, column 1 must add to exactly 4. Three more regions must each add to exactly 10: a pair standing in column 4 (rows 1-2), a pair standing in column 3 (rows 2-3), and a three-cell run down column 2 (rows 3-5). The last cell, row 5, column 3, must beat 4 on its own.
Every sum-10 region is built around 5s: both standing pairs are 5 plus 5, and the column-2 triple is 1 plus 3 plus 6. The board is full of 5s - four of the five dominoes carry one - so work out where the 1, the 3 and the 6 go and the 5s settle around them.
The 5-5 domino lies across row 2, columns 3-4, and its two 5s anchor both standing pairs: the 5-4 domino in row 1, columns 4-5, drops its 5 into column 4 and its 4 into the pinned single at the end of the row, while the 1-5 domino in row 3, columns 2-3, lifts its 5 into column 3 and starts the triple with its 1. The 4-3 domino lies across row 4, columns 1-2 - its 4 fills the pinned single and its 3 continues the triple - and the 6-5 domino closes row 5: its 6 completes the triple's 10 and its 5 beats 4 in the final 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: 5-4 across row 1, columns 4-5 · 5-5 across row 2, columns 3-4 · 1-5 across row 3, columns 2-3 · 4-3 across row 4, columns 1-2 · 6-5 across row 5, columns 2-3
- Adds to 10 5 + 5
- Adds to 10 5 + 5
- Adds to 10 1 + 3 + 6
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 4 4
- Greater than 4 5 = 5
Medium board - hints
Hint 0 of 3By Rodolfo Kurchan · Tap to show one hint at a time.
Start with the pinned single: the cell at row 2, column 4 must add to exactly 0, so a blank half goes there. A four-cell equals region - row 2, column 3, plus row 3, columns 2-4 - must all match, the pair standing in column 6 (rows 1-2) must add to less than 6, and the single at row 2, column 2 must beat 2. A three-cell unequal region - row 2, column 5, plus row 3, columns 5-6 - must hold three different values, and the three cells in column 1 carry no rule at all.
The equals region is all 6s: the 6-6 domino lies across row 3, columns 3-4, one half of the 4-6 domino supplies the 6 at row 2, column 3, and one half of the 2-6 domino supplies the 6 at row 3, column 2. The unequal region reads 3, 4 and 5, and the less-than-6 pair in column 6 is 3 over 1.
The 3-3 domino stands in column 1, rows 1-2, filling two of the free cells with 3s, and the 2-6 domino lies across row 3, columns 1-2, its 2 in the last free cell and its 6 joining the equals region. The 4-6 domino lies across row 2, columns 2-3: its 4 beats 2 in the greater-than cell and its 6 opens the equals run. The 0-3 domino lies across row 2, columns 4-5 - its blank half fills the pinned zero and its 3 starts the unequal region - and the 4-5 domino completes that region across row 3, columns 5-6. The 1-3 domino stands in column 6, its 3 over its 1, totaling 4 against the less-than-6 cap.
The Medium solution
The solved Medium board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 3-3 down column 1, rows 1-2 · 1-3 down column 6, rows 1-2 · 4-6 across row 2, columns 2-3 · 0-3 across row 2, columns 4-5 · 2-6 across row 3, columns 1-2 · 6-6 across row 3, columns 3-4 · 4-5 across row 3, columns 5-6
- Less than 6 3 + 1 = 4
- Greater than 2 4 = 4
- All equal 6 = 6 = 6 = 6
- Adds to 0 0
- All different 3, 4, 5
- 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.
Today's Hard board is a grid of near-certainties: 25 of its regions are single cells that name their own value exactly, one pair across row 2, columns 2-3, must add to 8, and only five cells carry no rule at all - row 1, columns 1-2, row 4, column 3, row 5, column 4, and row 6, column 6. Read the pinned values off first and the puzzle becomes a fitting problem: which dominoes can join them?
The sum-8 pair is two 4s. The tray helps enormously: it is almost a perfect ladder, running 0-1, 0-2, 0-3 and on through every consecutive pair up to 4-5, with a single extra domino, 3-6, on top. Every pinned neighbor pairing you need is in the tray exactly once.
The 0-1 domino stands in column 1, rows 1-2: its 1 takes the free corner and its 0 fills the pinned zero below. The 1-4 domino stands in column 2, its 1 in the free top cell and its 4 opening the sum-8 pair, which the 2-4 domino completes standing in column 3 - its 4 below its 2, which fills the pinned 2 at the top. The 3-4 domino lies across row 1, columns 4-5, matching the pinned 3 and 4, and the 3-6 domino stands in column 3, rows 3-4, its 3 pinned and its 6 free. The 4-5 domino stands in column 5, rows 2-3, its 5 over its 4, exactly as those two cells demand.
The Hard solution
The solved Hard board: every cell shows its pip count, then the placements and a check of every region rule.
Placements: 0-1 down column 1, rows 1-2 · 1-4 down column 2, rows 1-2 · 2-4 down column 3, rows 1-2 · 3-4 across row 1, columns 4-5 · 0-2 down column 4, rows 2-3 · 4-5 down column 5, rows 2-3 · 0-4 down column 1, rows 3-4 · 3-5 down column 2, rows 3-4 · 3-6 down column 3, rows 3-4 · 0-5 down column 6, rows 3-4 · 0-3 across row 4, columns 4-5 · 2-3 down column 2, rows 5-6 · 1-5 across row 5, columns 3-4 · 2-5 down column 5, rows 5-6 · 1-2 down column 6, rows 5-6 · 1-3 across row 6, columns 3-4
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 8 4 + 4
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 4 4
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 0 0
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 5 5
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 2 2
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 3 3
- Adds to 1 1
- Adds to 5 5
- No rule 5 cells in blank regions, free to take any value