Pips Answer for Sunday, April 26, 2026
Complete NYT Pips puzzle solution with interactive board and expert analysis for Easy, Medium, and Hard difficulty levels.
Reveal by clicking a domino below OR a cell on the board
Expert Puzzle Analysis
Deep insights from puzzle experts
Starting With A Spark
Nyt Pips easy answer for 2026-04-26
Answer for 2026-04-26
I hope you have your coffee ready because today's easy puzzle was such a fun way to wake up the brain. I started by looking for the most obvious clue, which was the empty spot at cell 0,1. Since it had to be a zero, I knew the domino sitting there had to be the 1,0 piece. That meant cell 1,1 was filled with a 1. This was a huge help because it was part of a sum region that needed to add up to 9. Since I already had a 1 in that region at 1,1, I knew the cell at 1,2 had to be an 8, but looking at my dominoes, that did not seem right. I realized I had to look at how the pieces fit across the borders.
Next, I turned my attention to the bottom of the grid where there was a sum of 2 for cells 2,2 and 2,3. I played around with the pieces and found that the 2,4 domino and the 1,6 domino could be positioned to satisfy those tricky equals constraints at 3,2 and 3,3. It was like fitting together a little map. Once I saw that 2,0 and 3,0 and 3,1 all had to be the same number, everything else just fell into place. It is all about finding that one piece that anchors the rest of the board.
Doubling Down On The Challenge
Nyt Pips medium answer for 2026-04-26
Answer for 2026-04-26
The medium puzzle today really stepped things up with a lot of sum constraints. I noticed right away that almost every region wanted a total of 6. With so many regions asking for the same number, I had to be really careful not to use up my best dominoes too quickly. I started with the sum of 10 at cells 0,2 and 0,3 because there are only a few ways to get a number that high. I used the 6 from the 6,4 domino and the 4 from the 1,4 domino to hit that target. This helped me clear the top right corner and gave me more room to breathe.
The trickiest part was the middle section where cells 2,0 and 2,1 needed to sum to 6, while 2,2 and 2,3 also needed to hit that same target. I spent a few minutes swapping the 5,1 and 5,2 dominoes back and forth to see which one would leave me with the right numbers for the bottom row. I finally found a path when I realized the empty spot at 3,3 meant I had to save a zero for the very end. It felt so satisfying to see that final sum of 6 at the bottom work out perfectly after all that shuffling.
A Deep Dive Into Dominoes
Nyt Pips hard answer for 2026-04-26
Answer for 2026-04-26
Wow, the hard puzzle today was a real marathon! The first thing that caught my eye was that massive equals region covering six different cells from 1,2 all the way down to 4,2. I knew I needed a number that appeared at least six times across all my dominoes. After a quick count, I found that the number 2 was the perfect candidate. Placing 2s in all those spots felt like a giant breakthrough. It acted like a spine for the entire puzzle and helped me figure out where the 2,2 and 4,2 dominoes needed to go.
Even after that big win, I almost got stuck on the bottom left. There was an unequal constraint between 5,0 and 6,0 and a less than 4 rule at cell 2,0. I had to look at my remaining dominoes, like the 6,6 and the 6,3, and figure out how to place them without breaking those rules. The breakthrough came when I saw that the 1,0 domino was the only thing left that could satisfy the less than 4 rule at the top. Once I tucked that piece in, the last few dominoes like the 3,3 and 6,0 landed right where they belonged. It was a tough one, but finishing it felt great!
Pro Tips for Today's Puzzle
Try to focus on the regions with very small or very large sum targets first because they have the fewest possible combinations.
It is also really helpful to count how many times a certain number appears in your domino list when you see a large equals region. If you get stuck, look for the empty spots since they always need a zero from one of your dominoes.
What I Learned
I learned today that long chains of equals constraints are actually your best friend because they narrow down your choices so much.
I also noticed how the empty cells can act as a guide for the rest of the board. It was surprising to see how many different ways a sum of 6 could be made using different domino pairs in the medium puzzle, which taught me to stay flexible with my first few moves.