Need a hint or the full solution for the January 23, 2026, NYT Pips puzzles? This guide separates the reported placements for Easy, Medium, and Hard. The written answer guide identifies colored-region conditions and domino pip pairs, not row-and-column coordinates, so match each clue to the corresponding region on your board.
For a spoiler-light approach, read the rules and difficulty overview first, then open only the section for the puzzle you are playing.
How to read these Pips hints
Pips is a single-player digital puzzle built around domino-like tiles. Place tiles vertically or horizontally so their halves cover board spaces. Colored regions impose mathematical conditions: a Number region requires a specified total, Equal requires the domino halves in the region to match, and Not Equal requires them to differ. Less Than and Greater Than compare the region’s pip total with its displayed number.
A domino can cross a region boundary. In that case, count only the half or halves that fall inside the colored region when applying that region’s condition. Uncolored squares have no condition. Since the dated answer guide gives region conditions, pip pairs, and orientation rather than board coordinates, use the clues below to identify the matching colored areas on your own board.
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January 23, 2026 puzzle overview
| Difficulty | Listed region conditions | Placement clues |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | Number regions totaling 9, 9, and 5; Equal regions of 0 and 3 | 5 condition entries |
| Medium | Number regions totaling 4, 1, 1, and 7; Less Than 1; Equal regions of 6 and 5 | 7 condition entries |
| Hard | Number regions totaling 5, 7, 7 (light blue), 6, 10, 9, and 3 | 7 condition entries |
These are counts and condition labels from the reported placements, not a universal rating of how difficult each board feels.
Easy hints and answers
Match each condition to the region displaying it. Tile pairs are written in pip order as reported; orientation is part of each placement.
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- Number (9): 2-4 vertical; 5-0 vertical.
- Equal (0): 5-0 vertical; 3-0 vertical.
- Equal (3): 3-0 vertical; 3-6 horizontal.
- Number (9): 3-6 horizontal; 5-3 vertical.
- Number (5): 5-3 vertical.
Medium hints and answers
- Number (4): 4-5 horizontal.
- Number (1): 2-0 vertical; 1-5 horizontal.
- Less Than (1): 0-6 vertical.
- Equal (6): 0-6 vertical; 6-6 horizontal.
- Equal (5): 1-5 horizontal; 0-5 vertical.
- Number (1): 0-5 vertical; 1-1 horizontal.
- Number (7): 3-6 vertical; 1-1 horizontal.
Hard hints and answers
- Number (5): 0-1 horizontal; 2-2 horizontal.
- Number (7): 1-1 horizontal; 0-5 horizontal.
- Number (7), light-blue region: 2-5 horizontal.
- Number (6): 3-3 vertical.
- Number (10): 5-5 vertical.
- Number (9): 3-2 horizontal; 6-1 horizontal.
- Number (3): 3-2 horizontal; 6-1 horizontal.
Where to play
NYT Games is the official destination for the digital puzzle. Forbes’s January 22, 2026, Pips coverage links to the NYT puzzle: Forbes: NYT Pips hints and answers. The dated placements above are reported by Mashable’s January 23 guide, syndicated at Yahoo Tech; an official NYT answer key was not available in the cited material. Treat these as reported region-based placements, not a coordinate-by-coordinate reconstruction or independently verified board solution.
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