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For Monday, March 30, 2026, the best reported first moves are to solve the exact-10 region on Easy, the single square totaling 2 on Medium, and the three-square region totaling 0 on Hard. Hints come first below; the reported region values and tile details are farther down, behind a clear spoiler warning. The solutions are attributed to third-party walkthroughs, not independently verified against an official New York Times answer key.
How to use these hints
NYT Pips asks you to place every domino on the board while satisfying the rule shown for each color-coded region. Depending on the region, its values may need to add to an exact total, all be equal, all be different, fall above or below a threshold, or meet no additional restriction. Dominoes can be rotated. Technobezz notes that a puzzle can have one or more valid solutions.
If you want to preserve the solve, read only the hint for your difficulty and stop before the spoiler section. The opening moves below are reported by EnergyPips; they are clues, not independent proof that a solution is unique.
Easy hint
Start with the two-square region in the bottom-left that totals 10. EnergyPips reports that its values are 5 and 5.
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Medium hint
Start with the bottom-left single square that totals 2. EnergyPips says this region has only one satisfying combination in isolation.
Hard hint
Start with the three-square middle-center region that totals 0. Its values must be 0, 0, and 0.
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March 30 board overview
EnergyPips describes the boards below by their square and domino counts. Those are descriptions of this day’s boards, not a general NYT Pips standard. Its page also compares each board with its own reported average; those figures are included for context, not as independently established NYT averages.
| Difficulty | Squares | Dominoes | EnergyPips-reported average squares | Doubles reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 12 | 6 | 9.9 | 3 |
| Medium | 16 | 8 | 14.8 | 1 |
| Hard | 28 | 14 | 26.4 | 4 |
EnergyPips attributes the Easy and Medium boards to Ian Livengood and the Hard board to Rodolfo Kurchan, with Ian Livengood as editor.
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Spoilers: reported region values and tile details
The following details reveal the reported solutions. EnergyPips and Technobezz are separate third-party walkthroughs; their presentations are not combined into a new solution here.
Easy answer
EnergyPips reports these values for the regions: exact 13 = 6, 4, 3; all-equal = 0, 0; greater than 3 = 4; exact 4 = 1, 1, 1, 1; exact 10 = 5, 5.
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Its tile placements use rows and columns counted from the board’s top-left:
- 3–1: row 3, columns 3–4
- 6–0: row 1, columns 3–4
- 4–4: row 2, columns 2–3
- 5–5: row 3, columns 1–2
- 1–1: row 3, columns 5–6
- 1–0: row 2, columns 4–5
Technobezz presents a separate sequence of tiles: 6/0, 4/4, 5/5, 0/1, 3/1, and 1/1.
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Medium answer
EnergyPips reports these region values: less than 4 = 3, 0; all-equal pairs = 0, 0 and 2, 2; less than 3 = 1; greater-than-4 singles = 6 and 6; all-equal three-square region = 2, 2, 2; exact 2 = 2; exact 7 = 3, 4; free square = 1.
EnergyPips lists these tile identities: 4–1, 0–3, 6–2, 2–2, 6–0, 2–0, 2–3, and 1–2. Technobezz gives a separate opening sequence: 3/0, 0/2, 2/1, 0/6, 6/2, 2/3, 4/1, and 2/2. These lists identify tiles, but the available descriptions do not provide row-and-column coordinates for a complete Medium placement walkthrough.
Hard answer
EnergyPips reports these region values: greater-than-8 regions = 5, 6 and 6, 5; top-center four-square exact-3 row = 1, 1, 1, 0; exact 5 = 2, 3; exact 2 = 1, 1 and 2, 0; exact 8 = 3, 5; exact 9 = 4, 5; another exact 3 = 2, 1; all-equal region = 4, 4, 4; exact 0 = 0, 0, 0; exact 6 = 2, 4.
EnergyPips lists the tile identities as 1–4, 5–3, 1–6, 4–5, 0–1, 4–4, 2–2, 0–0, 5–2, 3–6, 1–5, 4–0, 2–0, and 1–1. Technobezz gives a separate ordered sequence: 5/1, 1/1, 0/2, 6/1, 1/4, 5/2, 5/3, 3/6, 5/4, 4/4, 4/0, 0/0, 2/2, and 1/0. The available descriptions do not provide row-and-column coordinates for a complete Hard placement walkthrough.
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