NYT Pips Hints & Answers Today, November 16, 2026

Monday’s Pips from The New York Times (NYT), for Nov. 16, 2026, has Easy and Medium boards by Ian Livengood and a Hard board by Rodolfo Kurchan with 16 dominoes, one more than Sunday’s Hard board. The solutions come from the puzzle data the Times publishes for the game and were checked against every region’s rule. New to the symbols? See our Pips page.

Where each Pips board starts on Nov. 16

Every board has at least one cell the rules pin down before you place a domino. Cells are named by row and column from the top left, so R1C1 is the top-left cell.

Easy. R4C1 is a one-cell region that must be less than 1, so it holds a 0. Only the 1-0 domino has a 0, and R3C1 is the only cell next to R4C1, so that domino is fixed first.

Medium. R4C4 is a one-cell region that must be less than 5, and its only neighbor is R4C3. That makes R4C3 and R4C4 one domino. R4C3 is also in a two-cell region that must total more than 10, so it holds at least a 5 and R4C4 holds a smaller value.

Hard. R6C3 must add up to 0. Its only neighbor is R7C3, and R7C3 must be less than 3, so one domino covers both: 2-0 or 0-0. That leaves R8C3 and R8C4 as a pair, and R8C4 must add up to 6.

Monday’s three Pips boards side by side

Level	Dominoes	Regions	Sum	Equal	Not equal	Less or more than	No condition
Easy	5	7	1	1	0	2	3
Medium	7	8	2	1	0	5	0
Hard	16	21	7	2	0	10	2

Counts come from the puzzle data for Nov. 16, 2026. Medium has no cell without a condition, while Hard has two.

Monday’s Pips hints, Nov. 16, 2026

Easy (five dominoes: 6-1, 4-1, 1-0, 5-6, 1-3)

• Hint 1

  R2C3, R3C3 and R3C4 together add up to 3, so no 4, 5 or 6 can go in any of them.
• Hint 2

  R2C2 and R3C2 must be equal. Only 1 and 6 appear on more than one half.

Medium (seven dominoes: 5-2, 0-5, 2-4, 6-1, 1-1, 6-4, 6-5)

• Hint 1

  R1C2 and R1C3 add up to 10, so they hold a 4 and a 6, or two 5s.
• Hint 2

  R1C1 is a one-cell region that must be more than 4, so it holds a 5 or a 6.

Hard (sixteen dominoes on an eight-row board)

• Hint 1

  R1C1, R2C9 and R4C1 must each add up to 3. Six halves show a 3, two of them on the 3-3 domino.
• Hint 2

  R3C7, R3C8, R4C7 and R5C7 must all show the same value. A 5 appears on three halves and a 6 on two, so neither can fill four cells.

Easy, region by region. Each rule is listed; tap a region to see one value in it.

• R1C2 takes any value (one cell)

  R1C2 holds a 5, on the 5-6 domino.
• R1C3 takes any value (one cell)

  R1C3 holds a 4, on the 4-1 domino.
• R2C2 and R3C2 are equal (two cells)

  R2C2 holds a 6, on the 5-6 domino.
• R2C3, R3C3 and R3C4 add up to 3 (three cells)

  R2C3 holds a 1, on the 4-1 domino.
• R3C1 takes any value (one cell)

  R3C1 holds a 1, on the 1-0 domino.
• R4C1 is less than 1 (one cell)

  R4C1 holds a 0, on the 1-0 domino.
• R4C4 is less than 4 (one cell)

  R4C4 holds a 3, on the 1-3 domino.

Medium, region by region. Each rule is listed; tap a region to see one value in it.

• R1C1 is more than 4 (one cell)

  R1C1 holds a 6, on the 6-5 domino.
• R1C2 and R1C3 add up to 10 (two cells)

  R1C2 holds a 5, on the 6-5 domino.
• R1C4 is less than 6 (one cell)

  R1C4 holds a 4, on the 2-4 domino.
• R2C1, R2C2 and R3C2 total less than 4 (three cells)

  R2C1 holds a 1, on the 1-1 domino.
• R2C3 and R2C4 are equal (two cells)

  R2C3 holds a 2, on the 5-2 domino.
• R4C2 and R5C2 add up to 6 (two cells)

  R4C2 holds a 6, on the 6-1 domino.
• R4C3 and R5C3 total more than 10 (two cells)

  R4C3 holds a 6, on the 6-4 domino.
• R4C4 is less than 5 (one cell)

  R4C4 holds a 4, on the 6-4 domino.

Hard, region by region. Each rule is listed; tap a region to see one value in it.

• R1C1 adds up to 3 (one cell)

  The 3 comes from the 3-4 domino; its other half sits at R2C1.
• R1C5 and R2C5 total more than 7 (two cells)

  R1C5 holds a 2, on the 2-6 domino.
• R1C7 and R2C7 add up to 7 (two cells)

  R1C7 holds a 4, on the 4-2 domino.
• R1C8 and R1C9 total more than 4 (two cells)

  R1C8 holds a 2, on the 4-2 domino.
• R2C1 is more than 3 (one cell)

  R2C1 holds a 4, on the 3-4 domino.
• R2C2, R3C1 and R3C2 total more than 6 (three cells)

  R2C2 holds a 1, on the 5-1 domino.
• R2C4 takes any value (one cell)

  R2C4 holds a 0, on the 4-0 domino.
• R2C9 adds up to 3 (one cell)

  The 3 comes from the 3-3 domino; its other half sits at R1C9.
• R3C3 and R4C3 add up to 5 (two cells)

  R3C3 holds a 2, on the 2-3 domino.
• R3C4 is more than 1 (one cell)

  R3C4 holds a 4, on the 4-0 domino.
• R3C5 is more than 1 (one cell)

  R3C5 holds a 2, on the 1-2 domino.
• R3C7, R3C8, R4C7 and R5C7 are equal (four cells)

  R3C7 holds a 0, on the 0-3 domino.
• R3C9 is more than 4 (one cell)

  R3C9 holds a 5, on the 0-5 domino.
• R4C1 adds up to 3 (one cell)

  The 3 comes from the 1-3 domino; its other half sits at R3C1.
• R4C5 is more than 0 (one cell)

  R4C5 holds a 1, on the 1-2 domino.
• R4C9 and R5C9 total more than 6 (two cells)

  R4C9 holds a 2, on the 2-5 domino.
• R6C3 adds up to 0 (one cell)

  The 0 comes from the 2-0 domino; its other half sits at R7C3.
• R7C3 is less than 3 (one cell)

  R7C3 holds a 2, on the 2-0 domino.
• R7C6 and R8C6 are equal (two cells)

  R7C6 holds a 4, on the 4-4 domino.
• R8C3 takes any value (one cell)

  R8C3 holds a 1, on the 1-6 domino.
• R8C4 adds up to 6 (one cell)

  The 6 comes from the 1-6 domino; its other half sits at R8C3.

Reading the boards before you check

Compare the sums first. Easy has one sum, over three cells, plus one equal pair. Medium has two sums and five less-than or more-than regions. Hard has seven sums, three of them one-cell targets of 3. Hard has three doubles: 3-3, 4-4 and 0-0. Easy has none and Medium has one, 1-1.

More of Monday’s puzzles: Wordle hints, Connections hints and Strands hints. Track your solve times on our printable weekly calendar or the November 2026 calendar.

Monday’s Pips answers, Nov. 16, 2026 (spoilers)

Stop here if you want to solve the boards yourself.

The values below are the arrangement that fits the placements in the puzzle data and every region’s condition.

Easy, by Ian Livengood. Regions: R3C4, R3C3 and R2C3 add up to 3; R3C2 and R2C2 are equal; R4C4 is less than 4; R4C1 is less than 1; R1C3 takes any value; R3C1 takes any value; R1C2 takes any value.

• 6-1: R3C2 = 6, R3C3 = 1
• 4-1: R1C3 = 4, R2C3 = 1
• 1-0: R3C1 = 1, R4C1 = 0
• 5-6: R1C2 = 5, R2C2 = 6
• 1-3: R3C4 = 1, R4C4 = 3

Medium, by Ian Livengood. Regions: R4C2 and R5C2 add up to 6; R2C1, R2C2 and R3C2 total less than 4; R5C3 and R4C3 total more than 10; R4C4 is less than 5; R2C3 and R2C4 are equal; R1C2 and R1C3 add up to 10; R1C1 is more than 4; R1C4 is less than 6.

• 5-2: R1C3 = 5, R2C3 = 2
• 0-5: R5C2 = 0, R5C3 = 5
• 2-4: R2C4 = 2, R1C4 = 4
• 6-1: R4C2 = 6, R3C2 = 1
• 1-1: R2C1 = 1, R2C2 = 1
• 6-4: R4C3 = 6, R4C4 = 4
• 6-5: R1C1 = 6, R1C2 = 5

Hard, by Rodolfo Kurchan. Regions: R1C1 adds up to 3; R1C5 and R2C5 total more than 7; R1C7 and R2C7 add up to 7; R1C8 and R1C9 total more than 4; R2C1 is more than 3; R2C2, R3C1 and R3C2 total more than 6; R2C9 adds up to 3; R3C3 and R4C3 add up to 5; R3C4 is more than 1; R3C5 is more than 1; R3C7, R3C8, R4C7 and R5C7 are equal; R3C9 is more than 4; R4C1 adds up to 3; R4C5 is more than 0; R4C9 and R5C9 total more than 6; R6C3 adds up to 0; R7C3 is less than 3; R7C6 and R8C6 are equal; R8C4 adds up to 6; R2C4 takes any value; R8C3 takes any value.

• 3-3: R1C9 = 3, R2C9 = 3
• 4-2: R1C7 = 4, R1C8 = 2
• 5-1: R3C2 = 5, R2C2 = 1
• 0-5: R3C8 = 0, R3C9 = 5
• 2-0: R7C3 = 2, R6C3 = 0
• 4-4: R7C6 = 4, R8C6 = 4
• 2-6: R1C5 = 2, R2C5 = 6
• 2-3: R3C3 = 2, R4C3 = 3
• 1-3: R3C1 = 1, R4C1 = 3
• 4-0: R3C4 = 4, R2C4 = 0
• 0-0: R4C7 = 0, R5C7 = 0
• 0-3: R3C7 = 0, R2C7 = 3
• 1-2: R4C5 = 1, R3C5 = 2
• 1-6: R8C3 = 1, R8C4 = 6
• 2-5: R4C9 = 2, R5C9 = 5
• 3-4: R1C1 = 3, R2C1 = 4

No domino can be flipped on Easy or Medium without breaking a rule. On Hard, the 5-1, 2-6, 2-3 and 2-5 can be flipped. Flipping a double changes nothing. Tuesday’s boards arrive at midnight.