Pips Answer for Saturday, February 28, 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
Nyt Pips easy answer for 2026-02-28
Answer for 2026-02-28
I started with the Easy puzzle by focusing on the fixed targets first. Seeing a 6 target for a single cell at [1,0] was a huge giveaway because it immediately limited which dominoes could fit nearby.
I mapped out the equals region covering [0,1] to [3,1] and realized that the values there had to be consistent with the remaining dominoes like [4,4] and [0,4]. Moving to the
Nyt Pips medium answer for 2026-02-28
Answer for 2026-02-28
Medium puzzle, the target sum of 0 at [2,1] was the perfect anchor.
Since it's a sum of 0, that cell had to be 0, which narrowed down the [0,5] and [0,4] dominoes. I spent a good chunk of time on the sum of 3 across four cells at [1,2] through [4,2]; with so many cells and such a small sum, I knew most of those had to be 0s or 1s.
Nyt Pips hard answer for 2026-02-28
Answer for 2026-02-28
Finally, the Hard puzzle was a real brain-buster. I looked for the empty cells first to see what they blocked off.
The sum of 0 at [6,1] and the sum of 1 at [2,4] were my primary keys. I used a process of elimination for the long equals region at [2,2] through [5,1], testing which of the available dominoes like [4,4] or [6,4] could satisfy those constraints without breaking the target sums of 5 and 6 elsewhere. It was a game of fitting the high-value pips into the less restrictive areas while saving the low numbers for the tight sum requirements.
What I Learned
The most interesting takeaway today was how powerful a sum of 0 or a very low sum can be in a large region. In the Medium puzzle, that sum of 3 across four cells basically dictated the layout for the entire middle section.
I also noticed a pattern where the 'greater than' and 'less than' constraints are often placed near 'equals' regions to force a specific orientation of the dominoes. It’s a classic trick to make you think there are multiple options when there’s actually only one that doesn't violate the neighbors.