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

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Today's Medium Pips

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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. 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. 2.Place 2/6 vertically across purple (=) and teal (=). Both zones require equal values, and both pips satisfy their respective zone conditions.
3. 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. 4.Place 2/1 vertically in purple (=) and navy (<4). Both values are under 4, satisfying the less-than constraint.
5. 5.Place 3/3 vertically in the uncolored zone. No conditions, no restrictions.
6. 6.Place 4/2 vertically in the purple (not-equal) zone. Different values satisfy the inequality requirement.
7. 7.Place 6/6 vertically in the teal (=) zone. Matching pips, equal condition satisfied.
8. 8.Place 6/0 horizontally in teal (=) and orange (=). Both zones get matching values.
9. 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. 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

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

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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.