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Spoiler warning: The February 16, 2026 NYT Pips solutions cover Easy, Medium, and Hard. The Easy and Medium answers are shown visually on Daze Puzzle’s dated answer page; the text available there does not describe their tile placements. For Hard, Forbes’ walkthrough gives several placements in text and shows the completed board in an image.
What are the NYT Pips answers for February 16?
The dated answer page includes solution images for all three levels—Easy, Medium, and Hard. Because the Easy and Medium boards are not transcribed into text, use the images on Daze Puzzle’s February 16 page to see those complete layouts rather than relying on an inferred arrangement.
For the Hard board, the text clues below identify a sequence of placements, but they do not specify every remaining domino position. The completed board is visual in Forbes’ Monday, February 16 walkthrough.
Hard puzzle hints and placements
Try the clues in order, stopping when you have enough to continue on your own. Forbes describes three separate squares with eight tiles apiece; the third square has a seven-tile not-equal region, where all seven values must differ. The sole double, 2/2, belongs in the first square’s equal region.
#1 Best Overall
- Place 2/2 across the top two left Purple-equal tiles.
- Place 2/1 downward from Purple-equal into Blue 2.
- Place 1/4 across Blue 2 into Pink-equal.
- Place 4/2 from Pink-equal back around to Purple-equal.
- Place 1/6 from Orange 1 down into Purple 11.
- Place 5/4 from Purple 11 into Green 7.
- Place 3/5 from Green 7 into Dark Blue-equal.
- Place 5/0 from Dark Blue-equal into Orange 1.
After these moves, the walkthrough says one blank half must fill the free tile because two blanks are available; the remaining dominoes can then go where they fit. Consult the final board image for the exact completed arrangement.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How NYT Pips works
Pips is a domino logic puzzle: fill the board with the available dominoes while satisfying the condition shown in each colored region. Conditions can require an exact total, equal values, distinct values, or values above or below a threshold. Unmarked spaces have no special number condition, and dominoes can be rotated to fit the board and its rules. The objective is to use every domino and meet every condition.
Quick Recap
Best Value
A practical way to solve the board
- Start with the most constrained regions, especially those with a narrow target or an all-different rule.
- Track the pips on dominoes that have not yet been placed and compare them with the totals still required.
- Test rotations against both the board’s shape and the rules in each region; a piece that fits physically may still violate a condition.
- Use deduction to rule out placements rather than guessing. Daze Puzzle’s tips recommend counting remaining pips and proving placements with logic.
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