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Pips hints — Sunday, January 18, 2026

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

Sunday, January 18, 2026Archived board

Today's Easy board has 5 dominoes across 8 regions, mixing target-sum, all-equal, less-than and greater-than rules. 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 green region, where one cell must be exactly 3. Only 1 pip combination fits it at all, which is why it gives way first.

Hint 2

Easy
Lay the 3–0 down column 1, rows 1–2 — no guesswork needed. It is the only tile that works there, because green must add up to exactly 3. The 3 half sits in the green region, which must be exactly 3.
Reveal the full Easy answer

Easy solution — January 18, 2026

46
45
30
16
26

blue: 0 | purple: 4 | green (=3): 3 | amber (=10): 6 · 4 | orange (=): 6 · 6 | slate (<2): 1 | teal: 2 | pink (>4): 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
PurpleTake any value it likes1
Green3 — Be exactly 31
Amber10 — Add up to exactly 102
Orange= — Show the same number on every cell2
Slate<2 — Be less than 21
TealTake any value it likes1
Pink>4 — Be more than 41

Today's Medium board has 9 dominoes across 10 regions, mixing target-sum, greater-than, all-equal and less-than rules. 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 green region, where one cell must be exactly 4. Only 1 pip combination fits it at all, which is why it gives way first.

Hint 2

Medium
Lay the 4–2 down column 6, rows 2–3 — no guesswork needed. It is the only tile that works there, because amber must add up to exactly 4. The 4 half sits in the amber region, which must be exactly 4.

Hint 3

Medium
Place the 0–5 domino across row 1, columns 4–5. It is the only tile that works there, because purple must add up to more than 4. The 0 half sits in the blue region, which must add up to exactly 3.
Reveal the full Medium answer

Medium solution — January 18, 2026

44
03
42
05
46
33
10
20
00

blue (=3): 0 · 3 · 0 | purple (>4): 5 | green (=4): 4 | amber (=4): 4 | orange: 6 | slate (=): 4 · 4 | teal (=2): 2 · 0 | pink (=): 0 · 0 · 0 | lime (<2): 1 | brown (=8): 3 · 3 · 2

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

What each region asks for

RegionRuleCells
Blue3 — Add up to exactly 33
Purple>4 — Be more than 41
Green4 — Be exactly 41
Amber4 — Be exactly 41
OrangeTake any value it likes1
Slate= — Show the same number on every cell2
Teal2 — Add up to exactly 22
Pink= — Show the same number on every cell3
Lime<2 — Be less than 21
Brown8 — Add up to exactly 83

Today's Hard board has 16 dominoes across 13 regions, mixing target-sum and all-equal rules. 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 purple region, where one cell must be exactly 5. Only 1 pip combination fits it at all, which is why it gives way first.

Hint 2

Hard
Lay the 1–5 across row 1, columns 1–2 — no guesswork needed. It is the only tile that works there, because purple must add up to exactly 5. The 1 half sits in the blue region, which must add up to exactly 3.

Hint 3

Hard
Place the 1–6 domino across row 1, columns 3–4. It is the only tile that works there, because amber must add up to exactly 6. The 1 half sits in the green region, which must add up to exactly 2.

Hint 4

Hard
The 0–6 belongs across row 6, columns 3–4. It is the only tile that works there, because purple must add up to exactly 12. The 0 half sits in the blue region, which must add up to exactly 1.
Reveal the full Hard answer

Hard solution — January 18, 2026

56
00
34
02
11
06
22
10
35
16
54
36
21
33
26
15

blue (=3): 1 · 1 · 1 | purple (=5): 5 | green (=2): 1 · 1 | amber (=6): 6 | orange (=6): 2 · 2 · 2 | slate (=10): 3 · 3 · 4 | teal (=): 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 | pink (=27): 6 · 5 · 5 · 6 · 5 | lime (=4): 2 · 2 | brown (=6): 3 · 3 | blue (=1): 1 · 0 | purple (=12): 6 · 6 | green (=7): 3 · 4

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

What each region asks for

RegionRuleCells
Blue3 — Add up to exactly 33
Purple5 — Be exactly 51
Green2 — Add up to exactly 22
Amber6 — Be exactly 61
Orange6 — Add up to exactly 63
Slate10 — Add up to exactly 103
Teal= — Show the same number on every cell4
Pink27 — Add up to exactly 275
Lime4 — Add up to exactly 42
Brown6 — Add up to exactly 62
Blue1 — Add up to exactly 12
Purple12 — Add up to exactly 122
Green7 — Add up to exactly 72
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