Pips Hint Today
Pips Hint TodayTuesday, July 21st, 2026 · #1124
Click a domino to place it on the board, or click a cell on the board to place the correct domino. Click again to return it to the tray.
Step-by-step hard walkthrough (spoilers)
- 1Place the 0-1 domino with the 0 in the pink 0 region and the 1 in the orange 1 region — those cells must add up to 0; those cells must add up to 1.
- 2Place the 0-2 domino with the 0 in the purple 0 region and the 2 in the blue 2 region — those cells must add up to 0; those cells must add up to 2.
- 3Place the 0-3 domino with the 0 in the purple 0 region and the 3 in the blue = region — those cells must add up to 0; every cell there must show the same number.
- 4Place the 0-4 domino with the 0 in the teal 0 region and the 4 in the green = region — those cells must add up to 0; every cell there must show the same number.
- 5Place the 0-5 domino with the 0 in the pink 0 region and the 5 in the green 5 region — those cells must add up to 0; those cells must add up to 5.
- 6Place the 1-2 domino with the 1 in the pink 1 region and the 2 in the blue = region — those cells must add up to 1; every cell there must show the same number.
- 7Place the 1-3 domino with the 1 in the purple 1 region and the 3 in the green = region — those cells must add up to 1; every cell there must show the same number.
- 8Place the 1-4 domino with the 1 in the orange 1 region and the 4 in the blue 4 region — those cells must add up to 1; those cells must add up to 4.
- 9Place the 1-5 domino with the 1 in the purple 1 region and the 5 in the orange 5 region — those cells must add up to 1; those cells must add up to 5.
- 10Place the 2-3 domino with the 2 in the blue = region and the 3 in the purple 3 region — those cells must add up to 3.
- 11Place the 2-4 domino with the 2 in the orange 2 region and the 4 in the green = region — those cells must add up to 2.
- 12Place the 2-5 domino with the 2 in the green 2 region and the 5 in the teal 5 region — those cells must add up to 2; those cells must add up to 5.
- 13Place the 3-4 domino with the 3 in the green = region and the 4 in the teal 4 region — those cells must add up to 4.
- 14Place the 3-5 domino with the 3 in the blue = region and the 5 in the pink 5 region — those cells must add up to 5.
- 15Place the 4-5 domino with the 4 in the pink 4 region and the 5 in the teal 5 region — those cells must add up to 4; those cells must add up to 5.
- 16Place the 3-6 domino with the 3 in the blue = region and the 6 in the open cells.
Next Pips update in
New Easy, Medium, and Hard puzzles unlock at midnight local time.
Stuck on today's New York Times Pips for Tuesday, July 21, 2026? This page is an interactive solver for all three tiers — Hard is selected by default. Click a domino in the tray (or a square on the board) and the correct piece snaps into place; Easy and Medium are one tab away, and there's a full step-by-step Hard walkthrough below if you'd rather read it out.
Today's Pips hints
Treat the difficulty tabs and one-click placement as progressive hints — reveal only the squares you're stuck on, in whichever tier you're playing.
Difficulty boards
| Clue | Answer |
|---|---|
| Easy | 5 dominoes · puzzle #1073 · Ian Livengood. Select the Easy tab, then click a tray domino to snap it onto the board — or click any empty cell to place the piece that belongs there. |
| Medium | 8 dominoes · puzzle #1098 · Ian Livengood. Select the Medium tab, then click a tray domino to snap it onto the board — or click any empty cell to place the piece that belongs there. |
| Hard | 16 dominoes · puzzle #1124 · Rodolfo Kurchan. Select the Hard tab, then click a tray domino to snap it onto the board — or click any empty cell to place the piece that belongs there. |
Today's Pips answers
Every tier's solution is built into the interactive board above, so you can reveal it one domino at a time instead of spoiling the whole grid at once. Prefer a written route through the toughest board? The step-by-step Hard walkthrough lists every placement in order.
The Hard walkthrough for July 21, 2026 covers all 16 dominoes in placement order, from the opening 0-1 through the closing 3-6.
For the official game, play at nytimes.com/games/pips.
How to play NYT Pips
Fill every cell on the board with the day's domino set. Each domino covers two adjacent squares (horizontal or vertical), and the colored regions carry conditions you have to satisfy — not just cover. There's no fail state: rearrange until every constraint checks out. A single domino can straddle two different colored regions, with each half answering to its own rule — that overlap is what makes the harder boards tricky.
| Mode | What's different |
|---|---|
| = (equals) | Every pip value inside the region must be the same number. |
| ≠ (unequal) | Every pip value inside the region must be different. |
| A number (sum) | The pips in the region must add up exactly to that target. |
| >n / <n | The region's pip sum must be strictly greater / less than the target. |
| Blank | No numeric rule — any legal domino covering those cells works. |
Tips for solving Pips faster
- Start with single-cell regions. A lone `>5` or `<1` forces a tiny set of pip values and often locks a whole domino in one move.
- Use equals (=) regions as anchors. Once one half lands in an `=` region, every other cell in that color must match it.
- Small sum regions are nearly as strong as singles. A two-cell sum of 0 must be blank-blank; a two-cell sum of 1 must be 0-1.
- Watch for doubles on Hard boards. Pieces like 0-0 and 6-6 only fit orientations that keep both halves legal — they narrow fast.
- Place one confident domino here to unstick yourself, then go back to the official board and finish the rest on your own.
What is NYT Pips?
NYT Pips is a daily domino logic puzzle from The New York Times. You place a set of dominoes on a colored board so every region satisfies its condition — equals, unequal, an exact sum, greater/less than, or blank. Three difficulties (Easy, Medium, Hard) unlock every local midnight. This page is an interactive solver: click a tray domino or a board cell and the correct piece snaps into place, so you get exactly as much help as you want.
Frequently asked questions
What is today's NYT Pips answer?
The full solutions for all three tiers (July 21, 2026) are wired into the solver above — click dominoes or cells to place the official answer piece by piece, or follow the written Hard walkthrough. Tiers: Easy #1073, Medium #1098, Hard #1124.
How many dominoes are in today's Pips?
Today's boards use 5 dominoes on Easy, 8 dominoes on Medium, 16 dominoes on Hard.
Who makes NYT Pips?
NYT Pips is built by a team of constructors and edited by Ian Livengood. July 21, 2026's boards were constructed by Ian Livengood, Rodolfo Kurchan.
Is there a way to lose at Pips?
No — Pips has no fail state. You can rearrange dominoes as many times as you like until every region's condition is satisfied.
When does NYT Pips reset?
New Easy, Medium, and Hard puzzles unlock every day at midnight local time, and this page updates with the fresh solver and walkthrough.