This is yesterday's NYT Pips puzzle (November 4, 2026). See today's NYT Pips puzzle.
Wednesday mornings call for a puzzle that wakes your brain up gently, and yesterday's NYT Pips set does exactly that, three boards that start small and end with a proper test of patience. The Easy board is a tidy five-domino puzzle built around two equal regions and a greater-than-2 finish, the Medium board adds seven dominoes with a not-equal pair and a greater-than-12 trio, and the Hard board brings sixteen dominoes across twenty-seven marked regions, so every placement has to earn its spot.
Yesterday's NYT Pips puzzle details
- Date
- November 4, 2026
- Boards
- 3 (Easy, Medium, Hard)
- Easy
- 5 dominoes
- Medium
- 7 dominoes
- Hard
- 16 dominoes
- Difficulty
- Challenging
Spoiler warning: the hints here are spoiler-safe. The answer is hidden further down this page behind a clear reveal control. Scroll carefully.
Yesterday's NYT Pips hints
Climb the ladder from the gentlest nudge to the strongest clue. No peeking at the next clue until you've given the current one a real try.
Easy Board - Hint 1Gentle nudge
Place the 5-6 domino in column 4 covering rows 1 and 2, with the 5 on the greater-than-2 cell and the 6 on its matching cell.
Easy Board - Hint 2Warming up
Then place the 4-0 domino in column 2 covering rows 1 and 2 and the 2-2 domino in column 3 covering rows 1 and 2, with the 4 on the 6-point region and the second 2 on a blank cell.
Medium Board - Hint 1Warming up
Place the 2-6 domino across row 1 covering columns 2 and 3, with the 2 on the not-equal region and the 6 on its matching cell.
Medium Board - Hint 2Getting warmer
Then place the 4-1 domino across row 2 covering columns 2 and 3 and the 5-3 domino in column 4 covering rows 2 and 3, with the 4 on the not-equal region and the 3 on the greater-than-10 region.
Hard Board - Hint 1Almost there
Place the 2-3 domino across row 4 covering columns 1 and 2, with the 2 on its matching cell and the 3 on its matching cell.
Hard Board - Hint 2Strongest hint
Then place the 3-0 domino in column 3 covering rows 1 and 2 and the 4-3 domino across row 1 covering columns 1 and 2, with the 0 on its matching cell and the 3 on its matching cell.
Yesterday's NYT Pips answer
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Easy
Medium
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Yesterday's games
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What does yesterday's NYT Pips answer mean?
Reveal the meanings (contains spoilers)
The Easy board solves with five dominoes: the 5-6 pair opens on a greater-than-2 cell, the 4-0 and 2-2 pairs build the 6-point region, and the 0-0 and 4-4 pairs close the board on two equal regions. The Medium board takes seven dominoes around a not-equal pair, a greater-than-10 quartet, and a greater-than-12 trio. The Hard board is sixteen dominoes of careful matching: single-number cells across the top rows, three equal regions at the bottom, and a 6-point cell anchoring the lower middle.
How hard is yesterday's NYT Pips?
Difficulty: Challenging
Work the strictest zones first: on the Easy board the equal regions narrow the tray fast, and on the Medium board the not-equal pair does the same. On the Hard board, trust the single-number cells to place your dominoes, since a half that does not match its cell mark cannot belong there. Save the blank cells for last on every board, since they accept whatever the tray leaves behind.
What is NYT Pips?
NYT Pips is the New York Times' domino logic puzzle, launched by NYT Games in 2025. It hands you a tray of domino tiles and a board split into colored zones, and your job is to place every tile so that each zone's condition holds true at the same time.
Unlike classic dominoes, matching ends mean nothing here. Instead you are satisfying logic conditions: zones that ask for pips adding to a number, zones where every half must match, or zones where every half must differ. Three fresh boards arrive every day at midnight, one each for Easy, Medium, and Hard.
How do you play NYT Pips?
- You get three puzzle boards each day: Easy, Medium, and Hard, and each one is a fresh domino-placement challenge.
- Every board has colored zones with specific rules, like zones where all domino halves must add up to the same number, or zones where halves must be different.
- Drag dominoes from the tray onto the board, or tap a domino and then tap a cell to place it at its solved position.
- Click a placed domino or cell again to pick it back up if you want to try a different arrangement.
- Fill every zone correctly to solve the board, and use the Hint buttons if you get stuck on a tricky placement.
What are the best NYT Pips strategies?
- Start with the most restricted zones: zones with strict number rules narrow down your domino choices fast, so solve those first.
- Work Easy to Hard: the Easy board teaches you the zone patterns, and those same patterns show up in trickier forms on Medium and Hard.
- Count your pips: before placing anything, look at which dominoes you have and mentally match them to zones that need specific totals.
- Do not guess blindly: if a domino could go in two places, leave it for later and place the obvious ones first, the rest usually falls into place.
- Use both hints: Hint 1 gives you a starting nudge and Hint 2 reveals more, so check them before you get frustrated and start over.
More daily puzzles
Strategy guides
Frequently asked questions
How do you play NYT Pips?
You get a board of colored zones and a set of dominoes. Drag or place every domino onto the grid so that each zone's condition is satisfied. Conditions include equal numbers, exact totals, greater than, less than, and not equal. Uncolored cells have no restriction. You win when every domino is placed and every zone checks out.
What do the symbols on the colored zones mean?
A number means the pips in that zone must add up to exactly that total. An equals sign means every pip in the zone must be the same number. Greater than and less than compare the zone total against the shown number. The not equal symbol means every pip in the zone must be different. Cells with no color ignore all rules.
Can a Pips puzzle have more than one solution?
Yes. The official rules state that a puzzle can have one or more valid solutions. Any arrangement that places every domino and satisfies every zone condition counts as a win, so do not worry if your board looks different from a friend's.
What is the best strategy for the Hard Pips board?
Start with the strictest zones: single cells, equal signs, and exact totals. Each one eliminates whole dominoes from consideration. Work outward into the larger zones only after the anchors are placed, and leave the uncolored free cells for the very end.
Where can I play yesterday's Pips puzzle?
The official Pips puzzle is published by the New York Times in its Games app and on its website. You can also play yesterday's verified NYT Pips boards right here on this page, using the same zones and dominoes, before scrolling down for hints.