NYT Pips HelperWednesday, August 26, 2026
Hints, answers & a solver for the New York Times Pips puzzle
Today's hintHint archiveAll answers

Pips hints — Thursday, October 23, 2025

An archived puzzle. Pick your difficulty for a spoiler-safe nudge, then reveal the full board if you want it.

Thursday, October 23, 2025Archived board

The Easy grid runs to 6 regions and 6 tiles, with all-equal, target-sum and less-than rules in play. We give you a light nudge first — enough to get unstuck without spoiling the fun — and the full answer only when you ask for it.

Hint 1 — where to start

Easy
Ignore the open areas for now and go straight to the amber region, where three cells must add up to less than 1. Only 1 pip combination fits it at all, which is why it gives way first.

Hint 2

Easy
Place the 3–0 domino down column 4, rows 2–3. It is the only tile that works there, because amber must add up to less than 1. The 3 half sits in the purple region, which must show the same number on every cell.
Reveal the full Easy answer

Easy solution — October 23, 2025

41
11
04
33
30
05

blue: 4 | purple (=): 3 · 3 · 3 | green (=3): 1 · 1 · 1 | amber (<1): 0 · 0 · 0 | orange (<5): 4 | slate: 5

Prefer to watch it worked out step by step? Try the Pips Solver.

What each region asks for

RegionRuleCells
BlueTake any value it likes1
Purple= — Show the same number on every cell3
Green3 — Add up to exactly 33
Amber<1 — Add up to less than 13
Orange<5 — Be less than 51
SlateTake any value it likes1

The Medium grid runs to 8 regions and 9 tiles, with target-sum, less-than, all-equal and greater-than rules in play. We give you a light nudge first — enough to get unstuck without spoiling the fun — and the full answer only when you ask for it.

Hint 1 — where to start

Medium
Ignore the open areas for now and go straight to the pink region, where one cell must be more than 4. Only 2 pip combinations fit it at all, which is why it gives way first.

Hint 2

Medium
Place the 2–3 domino across row 5, columns 3–4. It is the only tile that works there, because slate must show the same number on every cell.

Hint 3

Medium
The 2–2 belongs down column 2, rows 4–5. It is the only tile that works there, because slate must show the same number on every cell.
Reveal the full Medium answer

Medium solution — October 23, 2025

66
36
56
20
23
22
35
01
11

blue (=9): 1 · 5 · 3 | purple (<2): 1 · 0 | green: 3 | amber: 1 | orange: 0 | slate (=): 2 · 2 · 2 · 2 | teal (=27): 6 · 6 · 6 · 6 · 3 | pink (>4): 5

Prefer to watch it worked out step by step? Try the Pips Solver.

What each region asks for

RegionRuleCells
Blue9 — Add up to exactly 93
Purple<2 — Add up to less than 22
GreenTake any value it likes1
AmberTake any value it likes1
OrangeTake any value it likes1
Slate= — Show the same number on every cell4
Teal27 — Add up to exactly 275
Pink>4 — Be more than 41

The Hard grid runs to 11 regions and 16 tiles, with all-equal, less-than and target-sum rules in play. We give you a light nudge first — enough to get unstuck without spoiling the fun — and the full answer only when you ask for it.

Hard is where most players get stuck.We break it into small, spoiler-safe nudges so you can stop the moment you’re unstuck.

Hint 1 — where to start

Hard
Ignore the open areas for now and go straight to the amber region, where one cell must be exactly 2. Only 1 pip combination fits it at all, which is why it gives way first.

Hint 2

Hard
Place the 2–3 domino across row 2, columns 1–2. It is the only tile that works there, because amber must add up to exactly 2. The 2 half sits in the amber region, which must be exactly 2.

Hint 3

Hard
The 2–6 belongs down column 7, rows 3–4. It is the only tile that works there, because orange must add up to exactly 24. The 2 half sits in the lime region, which must show the same number on every cell.

Hint 4

Hard
There is exactly one home for the 6–6: down column 8, rows 2–3. It is the only tile that works there, because orange must add up to exactly 24.
Reveal the full Hard answer

Hard solution — October 23, 2025

00
02
03
11
14
15
23
25
26
33
34
36
44
46
55
66

blue (=): 3 · 3 · 3 · 3 · 3 · 3 | purple (<7): 1 · 0 · 1 · 4 | green (<2): 1 | amber (=2): 2 | orange (=24): 6 · 6 · 6 · 6 | slate: 4 | teal (=26): 6 · 5 · 5 · 5 · 5 | pink (=): 4 · 4 | lime (=): 2 · 2 · 2 | brown: 4 | blue (=1): 1 · 0 · 0 · 0

Prefer to watch it worked out step by step? Try the Pips Solver.

What each region asks for

RegionRuleCells
Blue= — Show the same number on every cell6
Purple<7 — Add up to less than 74
Green<2 — Be less than 21
Amber2 — Be exactly 21
Orange24 — Add up to exactly 244
SlateTake any value it likes1
Teal26 — Add up to exactly 265
Pink= — Show the same number on every cell2
Lime= — Show the same number on every cell3
BrownTake any value it likes1
Blue1 — Add up to exactly 14
All hintsFull answers for this dayJun 28 →