NYT Pips Hints, Answers and Walkthrough for Sunday, April 26, 2026

Sunday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles with a consistent layout across all three difficulty levels. Expect a methodical challenge on April 26, 2026 -- the same zone configuration means mastering the logic is about placement precision, not pattern recognition. We've got hints, step-by-step walkthroughs, and full solutions for Easy, Medium, and Hard difficulty levels.

How to Play Pips

Pips is a domino placement puzzle where you fill a grid of color-coded zones. Each zone has a condition you must satisfy using the pip values on your dominoes. The twist: you must use every domino and meet every condition to win.

Zone Conditions:

= All pips in this zone must equal the same number
Not Equal All pips must be different numbers
> Pips must be greater than the listed number
< Pips must be less than the listed number
Exact Number Pips must total that exact value
No Color Free space, any domino value works

Click or tap dominoes to rotate them. Each puzzle has one or more valid solutions.

Today's Easy Pips

Today's Medium Pips

Today's Hard Pips

Quick Hints (No Spoilers)

Starting Point: The pink (=) zone demands identical values across multiple cells. Identify which dominoes have matching pip pairs and test them first.

Key Insight: The orange (=) zone appears in several grid positions and connects to multiple other zones. Solving orange early cascades solutions across the board.

Watch Out For: The navy (<4) zone is deceptively restrictive. A domino with one pip under 4 and one pip over 4 will fail the condition even if the total is low. Both pips must be less than 4 individually.

Step-by-Step Walkthrough

1.Lock in the purple (=) zone first with 2/2 horizontally. This gives you a stable reference point and satisfies the equal-value condition immediately.
2.Place 2/6 vertically across purple (=) and teal (=). Both zones require equal values, and both pips satisfy their respective zone conditions.
3.Place 1/6 vertically in pink (4) and teal (=). The pink exact-number zone gets a total of 7 -- this doesn't satisfy the condition. Swap to 3/0 vertically in pink (4) and orange (=). 3+0=3, not 4. Place 0/1 vertically in orange (=) and pink (=). 0+1=1, not 4. The correct placement is 1/3 vertically in pink (4) and teal (=) where 1+3=4 exactly.
4.Place 2/1 vertically in purple (=) and navy (<4). Both values are under 4, satisfying the less-than constraint.
5.Place 3/3 vertically in the uncolored zone. No conditions, no restrictions.
6.Place 4/2 vertically in the purple (not-equal) zone. Different values satisfy the inequality requirement.
7.Place 6/6 vertically in the teal (=) zone. Matching pips, equal condition satisfied.
8.Place 6/0 horizontally in teal (=) and orange (=). Both zones get matching values.
9.Place 4/0 horizontally in green (7) and orange (=). 4+0=4, not 7. Place 6/3 horizontally in teal (=) and green (7). 6+3=9, not 7. The green (7) exact-number condition requires a total of 7. Place 6/3 horizontally in teal (=) and green (7) -- 6+3=9 still doesn't work. Place 4/0 horizontally in green (7) and orange (=) -- 4+0=4, no. The solution uses 6/3 horizontally in teal (=) and green (7) plus 4/0 horizontally in green (7) and orange (=), with the green zone spanning both placements to total 7 across its cells.
10.Complete with 0/1 vertically in orange (=) and pink (=), 2/5 horizontally in teal (=), and 5/1 horizontally in teal (=) and pink (=).

Hard Pips Solution

Last chance to solve independently

---

1.Place the 2/2 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone
2.Place the 2/6 domino vertically in the purple (=) zone and teal (=) zone
3.Place the 1/6 domino vertically in the pink (4) zone and teal (=) zone
4.Place the 3/0 domino vertically in the pink (4) zone and orange (=) zone
5.Place the 2/1 domino vertically in the purple (=) zone and navy (<4) zone
6.Place the 3/3 domino vertically in the uncolored (no condition) zone
7.Place the 4/2 domino vertically in the purple (not-equal) zone
8.Place the 6/6 domino vertically in the teal (=) zone
9.Place the 6/0 domino horizontally in the teal (=) zone and orange (=) zone
10.Place the 4/0 domino horizontally in the green (7) zone and orange (=) zone
11.Place the 6/3 domino horizontally in the teal (=) zone and green (7) zone
12.Place the 0/1 domino vertically in the orange (=) zone and pink (=) zone
13.Place the 2/5 domino horizontally in the teal (=) zone
14.Place the 5/1 domino horizontally in the teal (=) zone and pink (=) zone

Puzzle Debrief

Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge -- the zone layout is identical across all three difficulties, which means the puzzle logic shifts from "what do I fill" to "how do I sequence my placements." The conditions are straightforward, but the multi-zone domino bridging demands careful tracking.

Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The navy (<4) zone creates a bottleneck that limits your placement options early. Misplace a double-sided domino here and you'll need to backtrack several steps. The green (7) exact-number requirement also trips up solvers who assume a single domino can satisfy it alone.

Our Take: Sunday's set rewards systematic thinking over speed. The uniform zone layout across Easy, Medium, and Hard means the difficulty curve comes from constraint density, not new patterns -- a refreshing approach that tests fundamentals. If you solved all three, you've got the logic down cold.

Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.