NYT Pips Hints and Answers for Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026: Easy, Medium and Hard Domino Placements

Tuesday’s Pips from The New York Times (NYT), for Nov. 3, 2026, has an Easy board by Ian Livengood and Medium and Hard boards by Rodolfo Kurchan; two hints for each come first, and every domino placement is at the end. The solutions come from the puzzle data the Times publishes for the game and were checked against every region’s rule. The boards go live at midnight in your time zone.

How Pips works

You place every domino so that each colored region meets its condition. A number means the pips in the region add up to it; = means every half shows the same value; ≠ means all are different; > and < set a total above or below a number; a region with no condition takes anything. Rows are counted from the top and columns from the left, so R2C5 is the second row, fifth column.

Tuesday’s Pips hints, Nov. 3, 2026

Easy (five dominoes: 1-2, 2-0, 1-1, 3-3, 0-3)

• Hint 1

  R2C3, R2C4 and R3C4 must total more than 8, and no half on this board shows more than 3, so all three cells hold a 3.
• Hint 2

  R1C1, R2C1 and R3C1 are equal, so you need three matching halves. Three halves show a 1, on the 1-2 domino and both ends of the 1-1.

Medium (seven dominoes: 6-3, 4-1, 3-2, 4-4, 3-0, 4-2, 5-5)

• Hint 1

  R3C4 must add up to 0, so it holds a 0. Only the 3-0 domino has a 0.
• Hint 2

  R4C4 and R4C5 are equal, so they need a double. The only doubles are 4-4 and 5-5.

Hard (fourteen dominoes on a six-row board)

• Hint 1

  R2C2, R2C3 and R3C1 must each add up to 0, so each holds a 0. Five halves show a 0, on the 0-6, 2-0, 0-1, 0-5 and 0-4 dominoes.
• Hint 2

  R4C5, R4C6, R5C6 and R6C6 are equal, so you need four matching halves. The 3-3 domino supplies two of them, and a 3 appears on five halves in all.

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

• R1C1, R2C1 and R3C1 are equal (three cells)

  R1C1 holds a 1, on the 1-2 domino.
• R1C2 and R1C3 are equal (two cells)

  R1C2 holds a 2, on the 1-2 domino.
• R1C4 takes any value (one cell)

  R1C4 holds a 0, on the 2-0 domino.
• R2C2 takes any value (one cell)

  R2C2 holds a 0, on the 0-3 domino.
• R2C3, R2C4 and R3C4 total more than 8 (three cells)

  R2C3 holds a 3, on the 0-3 domino.

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

• R1C1 and R2C1 total more than 8 (two cells)

  R1C1 holds a 6, on the 6-3 domino.
• R1C2 is more than 4 (one cell)

  R1C2 holds a 5, on the 5-5 domino.
• R1C3 adds up to 4 (one cell)

  The 4 comes from the 4-1 domino; its other half sits at R2C3.
• R2C2, R2C3 and R2C4 are all different (three cells)

  R2C2 holds a 5, on the 5-5 domino.
• R3C1 adds up to 3 (one cell)

  The 3 comes from the 3-2 domino; its other half sits at R3C2.
• R3C2, R3C3 and R4C3 add up to 8 (three cells)

  R3C2 holds a 2, on the 3-2 domino.
• R3C4 adds up to 0 (one cell)

  The 0 comes from the 3-0 domino; its other half sits at R2C4.
• R4C4 and R4C5 are equal (two cells)

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

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

• R1C1 and R2C1 are all different (two cells)

  R1C1 holds a 2, on the 2-5 domino.
• R1C2 is less than 2 (one cell)

  R1C2 holds a 1, on the 0-1 domino.
• R1C3 and R1C4 total more than 9 (two cells)

  R1C3 holds a 5, on the 0-5 domino.
• R1C5 is less than 2 (one cell)

  R1C5 holds a 1, on the 1-5 domino.
• R2C2 adds up to 0 (one cell)

  The 0 comes from the 0-1 domino; its other half sits at R1C2.
• R2C3 adds up to 0 (one cell)

  The 0 comes from the 0-5 domino; its other half sits at R1C3.
• R2C5 takes any value (one cell)

  R2C5 holds a 0, on the 0-4 domino.
• R2C6 and R3C6 are equal (two cells)

  R2C6 holds a 4, on the 0-4 domino.
• R3C1 adds up to 0 (one cell)

  The 0 comes from the 0-6 domino; its other half sits at R3C2.
• R3C2 adds up to 6 (one cell)

  The 6 comes from the 0-6 domino; its other half sits at R3C1.
• R3C5 takes any value (one cell)

  R3C5 holds a 6, on the 3-6 domino.
• R4C1 adds up to 2 (one cell)

  The 2 comes from the 2-0 domino; its other half sits at R5C1.
• R4C2 adds up to 2 (one cell)

  The 2 comes from the 3-2 domino; its other half sits at R5C2.
• R4C5, R4C6, R5C6 and R6C6 are equal (four cells)

  R4C5 holds a 3, on the 3-6 domino.
• R5C1 and R6C1 add up to 2 (two cells)

  R5C1 holds a 0, on the 2-0 domino.
• R5C2 adds up to 3 (one cell)

  The 3 comes from the 3-2 domino; its other half sits at R4C2.
• R5C4 and R5C5 total less than 3 (two cells)

  R5C4 holds a 1, on the 1-1 domino.
• R6C2 is less than 5 (one cell)

  R6C2 holds a 4, on the 2-4 domino.
• R6C3 takes any value (one cell)

  R6C3 holds a 5, on the 5-5 domino.
• R6C4 takes any value (one cell)

  R6C4 holds a 5, on the 5-5 domino.

Solving tips

Show the solving tips

Look for single cells with a limit: a cell that must be more than 4, as R1C2 is on Tuesday’s Medium board, can only hold a 5 or a 6 there. An “equal” region shrinks your options fast once one value is known; a double such as the 4-4 can supply two matching halves at once. On the Hard board, count the single cells with an exact sum: three need a 0, two need a 2, one needs a 3 and one needs a 6, so seven of the 28 cells are fixed from the start. R1C2 and R1C5 must each be less than 2, which makes them a 0 or a 1.

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

Tuesday’s Pips answers, Nov. 3, 2026 (spoilers)

Stop here if you want to solve the boards yourself.

Some dominoes on the Medium and Hard boards can be flipped without breaking a rule: the 6-3 and 4-2 on Medium, and the 2-5 on Hard. The values below are one arrangement that fits the placements in the puzzle data and every region’s condition.

Easy, by Ian Livengood. Regions: R2C3, R2C4 and R3C4 total more than 8; R1C1, R2C1 and R3C1 are equal; R1C2 and R1C3 are equal; R1C4 and R2C2 take any value.

• 1-2: R1C1 = 1, R1C2 = 2
• 2-0: R1C3 = 2, R1C4 = 0
• 1-1: R2C1 = 1, R3C1 = 1
• 3-3: R2C4 = 3, R3C4 = 3
• 0-3: R2C2 = 0, R2C3 = 3

Medium, by Rodolfo Kurchan. Regions: R1C1 and R2C1 total more than 8; R1C2 is more than 4; R1C3 adds up to 4; R2C2, R2C3 and R2C4 are all different; R3C1 adds up to 3; R3C2, R3C3 and R4C3 add up to 8; R3C4 adds up to 0; R4C4 and R4C5 are equal.

• 6-3: R1C1 = 6, R2C1 = 3
• 4-1: R1C3 = 4, R2C3 = 1
• 3-2: R3C1 = 3, R3C2 = 2
• 4-4: R4C4 = 4, R4C5 = 4
• 3-0: R2C4 = 3, R3C4 = 0
• 4-2: R4C3 = 4, R3C3 = 2
• 5-5: R1C2 = 5, R2C2 = 5

Hard, by Rodolfo Kurchan. Regions: R1C1 and R2C1 are different; R1C2 is less than 2; R1C3 and R1C4 total more than 9; R1C5 is less than 2; R2C2 adds up to 0; R2C3 adds up to 0; R2C6 and R3C6 are equal; R3C1 adds up to 0; R3C2 adds up to 6; R4C1 adds up to 2; R4C2 adds up to 2; R4C5, R4C6, R5C6 and R6C6 are equal; R5C1 and R6C1 add up to 2; R5C2 adds up to 3; R5C4 and R5C5 total less than 3; R6C2 is less than 5; R2C5, R3C5, R6C3 and R6C4 take any value.

• 5-5: R6C3 = 5, R6C4 = 5
• 3-3: R5C6 = 3, R6C6 = 3
• 3-2: R5C2 = 3, R4C2 = 2
• 0-6: R3C1 = 0, R3C2 = 6
• 2-0: R4C1 = 2, R5C1 = 0
• 0-1: R2C2 = 0, R1C2 = 1
• 0-5: R2C3 = 0, R1C3 = 5
• 1-5: R1C5 = 1, R1C4 = 5
• 2-5: R1C1 = 2, R2C1 = 5
• 3-6: R4C5 = 3, R3C5 = 6
• 0-4: R2C5 = 0, R2C6 = 4
• 1-1: R5C4 = 1, R5C5 = 1
• 2-4: R6C1 = 2, R6C2 = 4
• 3-4: R4C6 = 3, R3C6 = 4

The Hard board has three doubles: 5-5, 3-3 and 1-1. The 5-5 fills R6C3 and R6C4, two of the four cells on the board that have no condition. Wednesday’s boards arrive at midnight.