Need a nudge or the full solution? The Thursday, August 27, 2026, Pips set has easy puzzle #1221, medium #1234, and hard #1242. Start with the spoiler-light hints below; each board’s complete region values and domino placements follow in clearly marked sections.
Solutions below are attributed to independent guides, not presented as verified placements from the New York Times.
How to use these Pips hints
NYT Pips asks you to place dominoes across a board so the values in each marked region satisfy its rule. A region may require a particular sum, equal values, different values, or a threshold such as greater than a number. The August 27 set has three difficulty boards, with progressively larger layouts.
Each hint section gives you a starting deduction before the answer details. Stop there if you want to solve the board yourself.
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Easy Pips hint — August 27, 2026 (#1221)
First hint: Start with the single-cell region whose sum is 4. A one-cell sum fixes that cell’s value immediately. Then look for the single-cell sum of 3.
More help: The board has 10 cells, five dominoes, and five regions. Besides the two single-cell sums, there is a five-cell all-different region, a single cell greater than 5, and a two-cell equal-value region.
Show the easy solution
The independent EnergyPips guide gives these region values:
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- Five-cell all-different region: 1, 6, 2, 5, 3.
- Sum 4: 4.
- Sum 3: 3.
- Greater than 5: 6.
- Equal-value region: 5, 5.
Tile placements, with rows and columns counted from the top left starting at 1:
- 3–6: row 2, columns 1–2.
- 5–3: row 3, columns 2–3.
- 2–6: row 2, columns 3–4.
- 5–5: row 3, columns 4–5.
- 1–4: row 1, columns 2–3.
Medium Pips hint — August 27, 2026 (#1234)
First hint: Find the single-cell region marked greater than 4. It must contain 5 or 6; the independent guide’s solution fixes it at 6.
More help: This board has 14 cells, seven dominoes, and eight regions. After the opening deduction, use the two-cell sum of 6 and the two-cell region below 4, then work through the equal-value regions. One cell has no additional region restriction.
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Show the medium solution
The independent EnergyPips guide gives these region values:
- Greater than 4: 6.
- Sum 6: 3, 3.
- Less than 4: 1, 1.
- Equal-value region: 2, 2.
- Equal-value region: 5, 5.
- Unrestricted cell: 4.
- Equal-value region: 2, 2.
- Greater than 6: 5, 5.
Tile placements, with rows and columns counted from the top left starting at 1:
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- 5–5: row 3, column 5, and row 4, column 5.
- 2–2: row 3, columns 3–4.
- 3–1: row 1, columns 3–4.
- 2–6: row 2, column 2, and row 1, column 2.
- 1–5: row 1, column 5, and row 2, column 5.
- 2–4: row 3, columns 2 and 1.
- 5–3: row 2, columns 4–3.
Hard Pips hint — August 27, 2026 (#1242)
First hint: Begin with the single-cell sum of 5. Once that value is placed, use the equal-value regions to reason about the doubles in the tray.
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More help: The hard board spans 30 cells and uses 15 dominoes across 13 regions. The guide describes six exact-sum regions and six equal-value regions; the tray includes doubles 5–5, 4–4, 6–6, and 3–3.
Show the hard solution
The independent EnergyPips guide gives these region values:
- Three-cell equal-value region: 5, 5, 5.
- Two-cell equal-value region: 4, 4.
- Five-cell equal-value region: 3, 3, 3, 3, 3.
- Sum 7: 6, 1.
- Single-cell sum 5: 5.
- Two-cell equal-value region: 5, 5.
- Two-cell equal-value region: 1, 1.
- Sum 6: 4, 2.
- Three-cell equal-value region: 6, 6, 6.
- Sum 8: 6, 2.
- Sum 0: 0, 0.
- Sum 4: 3, 1.
- Sum 6: 2, 4.
Tile placements, with rows and columns counted from the top left starting at 1:
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- 2–0: row 5, column 1, and row 6, column 1.
- 3–6: row 1, columns 4–5.
- 5–5: row 1, column 1, and row 2, column 1.
- 4–4: row 1, columns 2–3.
- 6–6: row 4, column 5, and row 5, column 5.
- 5–1: row 2, column 6, and row 1, column 6.
- 3–3: row 2, column 5, and row 3, column 5.
- 5–4: row 3, column 1, and row 4, column 1.
- 3–1: row 3, columns 4 and 3.
- 5–6: row 3, column 6, and row 4, column 6.
- 3–5: row 2, columns 4–3.
- 2–4: row 5, column 6, and row 6, column 6.
- 6–1: row 4, columns 4–3.
- 2–1: row 6, columns 5–4.
- 3–0: row 6, columns 3–2.
How the three August 27 boards compare
| Difficulty | Puzzle ID | Cells | Dominoes | Notable constraints |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | #1221 | 10 | 5 | Large all-different region and exact single-cell sums |
| Medium | #1234 | 14 | 7 | Threshold and equality regions, plus one unrestricted cell |
| Hard | #1242 | 30 | 15 | Multiple exact-sum and equal-value regions; four doubles in the tray |
These are characteristics of this date’s boards, not a general formula for how Pips difficulty is determined.
Where to play Pips
Play the digital puzzle on the New York Times Pips page. A physical double-six domino set can be useful for playing domino-logic games away from a screen, but it is not needed for the NYT digital puzzle.
EnergyPips describes itself as independent and unaffiliated with the Times. The solution values and placements above are attributed to that third-party guide; puzzle identifiers are also listed by NYT Game Solver, which is not being presented here as the official NYT source.
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