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Pips hints — Monday, February 23, 2026

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

Monday, February 23, 2026Archived board

Today's Easy board has 5 dominoes across 7 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.

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 6. Only 1 pip combination fits it at all, which is why it gives way first.

Hint 2

Easy
Place the 6–5 domino across row 2, columns 1–2. It is the only tile that works there, because green must add up to exactly 6. The 6 half sits in the green region, which must be exactly 6.
Reveal the full Easy answer

Easy solution — February 23, 2026

02
11
65
40
64

blue (=6): 1 · 5 | purple: 1 | green (=6): 6 | amber (=6): 6 | orange (=): 0 · 0 | slate (=4): 4 | teal (=6): 4 · 2

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

What each region asks for

RegionRuleCells
Blue6 — Add up to exactly 62
PurpleTake any value it likes1
Green6 — Be exactly 61
Amber6 — Be exactly 61
Orange= — Show the same number on every cell2
Slate4 — Be exactly 41
Teal6 — Add up to exactly 62

Today's Medium board has 6 dominoes across 8 regions, mixing target-sum 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

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

Hint 2

Medium
Place the 2–3 domino down column 3, rows 3–4. It is the only tile that works there, because amber must add up to more than 2. The 2 half sits in the teal region, which must add up to exactly 7.

Hint 3

Medium
The 5–4 belongs down column 4, rows 3–4. It is the only tile that works there, because green must add up to exactly 7.
Reveal the full Medium answer

Medium solution — February 23, 2026

23
00
54
10
61
02

blue (=7): 6 · 1 | purple: 0 | green (=7): 2 · 5 | amber (>2): 3 | orange: 0 | slate: 0 | teal (=7): 2 · 4 · 1 | pink: 0

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

What each region asks for

RegionRuleCells
Blue7 — Add up to exactly 72
PurpleTake any value it likes1
Green7 — Add up to exactly 72
Amber>2 — Be more than 21
OrangeTake any value it likes1
SlateTake any value it likes1
Teal7 — Add up to exactly 73
PinkTake any value it likes1

Today's Hard board has 14 dominoes across 16 regions, mixing target-sum 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 blue 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

Hard
Place the 4–0 domino across row 6, columns 2–3. It is the only tile that works there, because blue must add up to exactly 4. The 4 half sits in the blue region, which must be exactly 4.

Hint 3

Hard
The 6–3 belongs down column 4, rows 7–8. It is the only tile that works there, because purple must add up to exactly 12.

Hint 4

Hard
There is exactly one home for the 2–6: across row 5, columns 2–3. It is the only tile that works there, because slate must add up to exactly 11. The 2 half sits in the teal region, which must add up to exactly 4.
Reveal the full Hard answer

Hard solution — February 23, 2026

63
40
06
12
00
33
25
11
02
66
22
50
26
01

blue (=4): 2 · 2 | purple: 0 | green (=4): 1 · 1 · 1 · 1 | amber: 0 | orange: 0 | slate (=11): 5 · 6 | teal (=4): 2 · 2 | pink (=17): 6 · 6 · 5 | lime: 0 | brown: 0 | blue (=4): 4 | purple (=12): 6 · 6 | green (=4): 2 · 2 | amber: 0 | orange: 0 | slate (=9): 3 · 3 · 3

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

What each region asks for

RegionRuleCells
Blue4 — Add up to exactly 42
PurpleTake any value it likes1
Green4 — Add up to exactly 44
AmberTake any value it likes1
OrangeTake any value it likes1
Slate11 — Add up to exactly 112
Teal4 — Add up to exactly 42
Pink17 — Add up to exactly 173
LimeTake any value it likes1
BrownTake any value it likes1
Blue4 — Be exactly 41
Purple12 — Add up to exactly 122
Green4 — Add up to exactly 42
AmberTake any value it likes1
OrangeTake any value it likes1
Slate9 — Add up to exactly 93
All hintsFull answers for this dayJun 28 →