Here are the reported hints and solutions for the September 27, 2026, NYT Pips puzzle, across Easy, Medium, and Hard. The walkthroughs below are from an independent fan guide, not an official New York Times archive, so treat the placements as reported solutions rather than official verification.
How NYT Pips works
NYT Pips is a domino-based logic puzzle: place the available dominoes across a grid while satisfying the math condition in each colored region. Conditions can require equal values, a target sum, or an inequality; uncolored cells have no special condition. The game offers Easy, Medium, and Hard boards. For a concise explanation of the rules and access through NYT Games online or in the app, see Tom’s Guide’s Pips guide.
Easy: hints and reported answer
The Easy board has five dominoes and five regions: a three-cell equality region, a three-cell region totaling 2, a two-cell region totaling 10, a single cell that must be greater than 4, and one uncolored square. The date-specific guide credits Ian Livengood for its Easy-board overview.
Hint 1: Solve the sum-2 pocket
The three cells must total 2. The guide’s reported placement makes them 1, 1, and 0: place the 1/1 double in the pocket, then put the zero half of the 0/2 tile there.
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Hint 2: Use the equality region
The three-cell equality region is reported as 3, 3, 3. The 3/3 double fills two cells, and the 3 from the 4/3 tile fills the third. The 4 from that tile belongs in the sum-10 pair.
Hint 3: Finish the remaining cells
The sum-10 pair needs 6 beside the 4. Place the 6/5 tile with its 6 in that region; its 5 fills the cell that must be greater than 4. The 2 from the 0/2 tile goes in the uncolored square.
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Medium: hints and reported answer
The Medium board uses eight dominoes and eight regions. Its constraints include two three-cell equality runs, a three-cell sum-1 region, three individual cells greater than 4, and another equality block.
Hint 1: Start with the sum-1 trio
The trio must contain 1, 0, and 0. The guide places the 1 from the 1/6 tile in this region, with its 6 crossing into the neighboring equality block.
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Hint 2: Lock the neighboring equality block
A greater-than-4 cell touches only one other cell in that block. The reported solution uses the 6/6 double there, fixing the block’s three cells at 6. The 5/6 and 1/6 tiles complete it; their other halves feed the greater-than-4 and sum-1 regions.
Hint 3: Complete the remaining equality runs
The 0/5 and 4/0 tiles supply the remaining zeros for the sum-1 trio. A 4/4 double and the 4 from the 4/0 tile make the lower equality run all 4s. A 0/0 double and the zero half of the 3/0 tile make the top equality run all 0s, leaving the 3 in the uncolored cell.
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Hard: hints and reported answer
The Hard board has twelve dominoes and nine regions. Its constraints include a bottom sum-1 run, a sum-3 row, a purple equality column, several other sum regions, and a four-cell region whose values must be unequal.
Hint 1: Build from the bottom sum-1 run
The reported values are 0, 1, and 0. The 1/0 tile fills two cells; the 5/0 tile supplies the other zero and places its 5 in a neighboring sum-9 pair.
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Hint 2: Resolve the sum-8 and sum-9 regions
A 4/4 double contributes one 4 to an 8-sum run and one 4 to the sum-9 pair. A 2/2 double completes the 8-sum run; the sum-9 pair then takes the 5 from the other half of the 5/0 tile.
Hint 3: Fill the sum-3 row and equality column
The sum-3 row uses the 0/0 double and the 2/3 tile, giving 0, 0, and 3. The 2 half also feeds an adjacent sum-8 pair. A 3/1 tile and a 3/3 double make the equality column all 3s. The neighboring sum-3 pair takes 1 and 2, while the 6 from the 6/2 tile satisfies the related sum-8 pair.
Hint 4: Finish the remaining regions
The 4/2 tile fills the sum-6 pair. The four-cell unequal-values block is reported as 6, 5, 3, and 4, using the 5/6 and 4/3 dominoes.
What to take from these solutions
- Begin with the most restrictive small sum: the three-cell sum-2 pocket on Easy, and the sum-1 region on Medium and Hard.
- Use equality regions to fix a value, then carry that information into adjacent regions.
- Dominoes can cross region boundaries, so placing one half may resolve a neighboring constraint.
The date-specific walkthroughs and reported placements are from an independent fan-made guide; they are not presented as verified entries from an official NYT archive.
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