Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteSpoiler warning: This page covers the NYT Pips puzzle for Tuesday, January 20, 2026, including a gradual hint and the documented Hard-board placements. Stop before the full-solution section if you want to solve it yourself. The readable walkthrough supports a Hard solution; Easy and Medium placements are not available in verifiable text, so they are not guessed here.
How to use these NYT Pips hints
Pips is a domino-based logic puzzle: place the available dominoes to fill the board while satisfying the rule shown in each colored region. Depending on the region, its pips may need to be equal, unequal, above or below a threshold, or add up to an exact value; unrestricted cells accept any value. You can rotate and place the virtual dominoes in NYT Games online or in its app. Tom’s Guide’s Pips mechanics guide explains the general rules.
- Light hint: On the January 20 Hard board, begin with the large orange equals region.
- Stronger hint: The Hard walkthrough starts by filling that region with 2s.
- Full placements: Continue to the Hard solution below for a documented valid arrangement.
Easy and Medium answers for January 20
The date-specific Forbes guide labels Easy and Medium answers but shows their placements as images rather than readable text. Nerdschalk’s January 20 guide likewise presents its solution steps as images in the accessible page text. Because the placements cannot be verified from that text, this guide does not supply or infer Easy or Medium answers. Forbes’ January 19, 2026 guide and Nerdschalk’s date-specific guide identify the January 20, 2026 edition.
Hard Pips: full solution for January 20
The following sequence describes one valid arrangement from the date-specific Hard walkthrough. It is not the only possible solution: the source notes that the smaller board can also work with the 3s and 1s swapped, and that other arrangements may exist. Region names below refer to their displayed color and rule.
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- Fill the large orange equals region with 2s: place the 5/2 domino from Purple 5 and the 3/2 domino from Blue 3 into Orange =. Put the 6/2 domino from Dark Blue = into Orange =, then lay 2/2 across two of the upper Orange = cells.
- Place 3/6 from Pink < 5 and 5/6 from Purple 5 into Dark Blue =. Put 5/0 from the second Dark Blue = group into Green 0, then place 5/4 from Dark Blue = into Blue =.
- Place 2/4 from Pink 2 into Blue = and 2/1 from Orange = in the first free tile. Put 6/6 in the top Purple > 8 group and 0/0 in the bottom Green < 2 group.
- On the smaller microscope-shaped board, place 1/1 in Blue < 6 and 3/3 in the first two Pink = cells. Put 3/1 from Pink = in the second free tile. The 3s and 1s can be swapped in this smaller-board arrangement.
For the original date-specific walkthrough and board images, see Forbes’ January 20 Hard Pips guide.
Quick Recap
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