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Need a nudge on the September 20, 2026, NYT Pips puzzles? Start with the spoiler-light hints below, then open the section for your difficulty when you’re ready for the full answer. Solutions and board details are reported by EnergyPips, an independent site that says it is not affiliated with or endorsed by The New York Times.
How to use these Pips hints and answers
Pips is a domino-placement logic puzzle: place every domino on the board so each colored region meets its rule. A region might require an exact total, equal values, or values above or below a threshold; uncolored squares have no special numerical condition. In the interface described by Tom’s Guide, players tap dominoes to rotate them. For the September 20 boards below, coordinates count rows and columns from 1, starting at the board’s top-left corner.
Each difficulty section gives three hints before showing the solution. Stop at the hints if you want to keep the board mostly spoiler-free.
Easy hints and solution
Hints
- Begin with the single square in the middle-center region marked =1: it must contain 1.
- The tray includes a 0-0 double, which is a natural fit for the top-center all-equal region.
- The EnergyPips answer uses the two remaining exact-sum regions as 4+4 for =8 and 6+3 for =9.
Full Easy solution
EnergyPips reports that the Easy board has 10 squares and five dominoes.
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#1 Best Overall
RoseArt Hobby Haven Bookshelf 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle
- WHIMSICAL COZY LIBRARY SCENE: Immerse yourself in the magic of a leafy, plant-filled library complete with twinkling lights, art supplies, and a cozy reading chair – perfect for puzzle lovers and bookworms alike
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| Region rule | Location | Final values |
|---|---|---|
| All equal | Top-center 3-square block | 0, 0, 0 |
| =1 | Middle-center single | 1 |
| =8 | Middle-left pair | 4, 4 |
| =9 | Middle-center pair | 6, 3 |
| Unrestricted | Bottom-left single | 2 |
| =1 | Bottom-right single | 1 |
Domino placements
- 0-0: row 1, column 3 and row 2, column 3
- 6-0: row 3, column 4 and row 2, column 4
- 3-1: row 3, column 5 and row 4, column 5
- 4-1: row 3, column 2 and row 2, column 2
- 2-4: row 4, column 1 and row 3, column 1
Medium hints and solution
Hints
- Look at the middle-center pair marked =9. In isolation, it has more than one possible value combination.
- The solution uses 3 and 6 for that pair.
- The tray has one 4-4 double for the middle-center all-equal block.
Full Medium solution
EnergyPips reports a 14-square board with eight regions.
| Region rule | Location | Final values |
|---|---|---|
| >3 | Top-right single | 6 |
| >3 | Middle-left single | 4 |
| All equal | Middle-center 3-square block | 2, 2, 2 |
| =9 | Middle-center pair | 3, 6 |
| =9 | Middle-right pair | 5, 4 |
| <3 | Middle-center single | 1 |
| =9 | Bottom-center pair | 5, 4 |
| =9 | Bottom-center pair | 5, 4 |
Domino placements
- 5-4: row 4, column 4 and row 4, column 3
- 1-6: row 3, column 3 and row 3, column 4
- 4-2: row 2, column 1 and row 2, column 2
- 2-5: row 3, column 2 and row 4, column 2
- 5-6: row 2, column 5 and row 1, column 5
- 4-4: row 3, column 5 and row 4, column 5
- 2-3: row 2, column 3 and row 2, column 4
Hard hints and solution
Hints
- The top-center single marked <2 resolves to 0.
- The tray contains four doubles: 2-2, 5-5, 0-0, and 1-1.
- EnergyPips recommends placing doubles early to reason through the all-equal regions; the board has several regions without tight numerical constraints.
Full Hard solution
EnergyPips reports that Hard has 28 squares and 14 dominoes.
Rank #2
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| Region rule | Location | Final values |
|---|---|---|
| <3 | Top-left single | 1 |
| >3 | Top-center single | 5 |
| <2 | Top-center single | 0 |
| All equal | Top-center 3-square block | 1, 1, 1 |
| All equal | Middle-left 5-square block | 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 |
| =8 | Middle-center pair | 2, 6 |
| >4 | Middle-center single | 5 |
| >3 | Middle-center single | 4 |
| >3 | Middle-left single | 4 |
| =10 | Middle-center pair | 5, 5 |
| =5 | Middle-center pair | 3, 2 |
| >4 | Middle-center single | 5 |
| =9 | Middle-center 3-square region | 1, 6, 2 |
| <2 | Middle-center single | 0 |
| All equal | Middle-center 3-square region | 2, 2, 2 |
Domino placements
- 5-0: row 2, column 6 and row 1, column 6
- 2-2: row 8, column 4 and row 9, column 4
- 1-0: row 1, column 1 and row 2, column 1
- 5-5: row 4, column 3 and row 4, column 4
- 2-0: row 6, column 5 and row 6, column 6
- 5-1: row 6, column 2 and row 6, column 3
- 2-6: row 7, column 4 and row 6, column 4
- 4-1: row 3, column 7 and row 2, column 7
- 5-2: row 1, column 4 and row 2, column 4
- 0-0: row 2, column 2 and row 3, column 2
- 3-2: row 4, column 7 and row 5, column 7
- 0-6: row 3, column 3 and row 3, column 4
- 1-1: row 1, column 8 and row 2, column 8
- 0-4: row 3, column 1 and row 4, column 1
How the three boards compare
EnergyPips characterizes each board’s size relative to its own archive averages: Easy is 10 squares versus an average of 9.9; Medium is 14 versus 14.8; Hard is 28 versus 26.3. Those are the publisher’s calculations, not independently validated NYT difficulty metrics. It also identifies Easy’s tightest sum target as 1 and Medium’s as 9, while describing Hard as having a relatively high share of loose regions. The board set contains four doubles on Hard, compared with one on Easy, according to the same publisher.
EnergyPips credits Ian Livengood for the Easy and Medium boards and editorial work, and Rodolfo Kurchan for Hard. Its published solutions are the source for the exact answers here; they are not independently verified against an official NYT board.
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Vintage Book Puzzles for Adults 1000 Pieces, Bookshelf Wildflower Pages Jigsaw Puzzle, Retro Library Aesthetic Puzzle Floral, Challenging Hard Puzzles for Book Lovers
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