NYT Pips Hints and Answers for Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026: Easy, Medium and Hard Domino Placements

Thursday’s Pips from The New York Times (NYT), for Nov. 5, 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.

Thursday’s Pips hints, Nov. 5, 2026

Easy (five dominoes: 6-0, 6-6, 5-2, 4-4, 5-1)

• Hint 1

  R1C3 must be less than 2, so it holds a 0 or a 1. Only the 6-0 and 5-1 dominoes have those.
• Hint 2

  R1C1 and R1C2 add up to 11, and so do R5C1 and R5C2. Only a 5 and a 6 make 11, and the board has two 5s, on the 5-2 and 5-1 dominoes.

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

• Hint 1

  R3C2 must add up to 2, so it holds a 2. Two halves show a 2, on the 2-3 and 1-2 dominoes.
• Hint 2

  R3C5 must add up to 1, so it holds a 1. Three halves show a 1, on the 5-1, 1-2 and 4-1 dominoes.

Hard (fifteen dominoes on a seven-row board)

• Hint 1

  R7C7 must add up to 2, so it holds a 2. Three halves show a 2, on the 2-1, 6-2 and 2-3 dominoes.
• Hint 2

  R4C5, R4C6, R5C5 and R5C6 are equal, so you need four matching halves. Six halves show a 3, and the 3-3 double supplies two of them at once.

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

• R1C1 and R1C2 add up to 11 (two cells)

  R1C1 holds a 6, on the 6-0 domino.
• R1C3 is less than 2 (one cell)

  R1C3 holds a 1, on the 5-1 domino.
• R2C1, R3C1, R3C2 and R4C1 add up to 14 (four cells)

  R2C1 holds a 0, on the 6-0 domino.
• R5C1 and R5C2 add up to 11 (two cells)

  R5C1 holds a 6, on the 6-6 domino.
• R5C3 is less than 3 (one cell)

  R5C3 holds a 2, on the 5-2 domino.

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

• R1C2 is more than 0 (one cell)

  R1C2 holds a 1, on the 1-2 domino.
• R1C3 and R2C3 add up to 6 (two cells)

  R1C3 holds a 2, on the 1-2 domino.
• R1C4 and R2C4 are equal (two cells)

  R1C4 holds a 3, on the 3-3 domino.
• R2C1 and R2C2 total more than 4 (two cells)

  R2C1 holds a 5, on the 5-3 domino.
• R3C2 adds up to 2 (one cell)

  The 2 comes from the 2-3 domino; its other half sits at R4C2.
• R3C3 and R3C4 are all different (two cells)

  R3C3 holds a 0, on the 4-0 domino.
• R3C5 adds up to 1 (one cell)

  The 1 comes from the 5-1 domino; its other half sits at R3C4.
• R4C2, R4C3 and R4C4 add up to 8 (three cells)

  R4C2 holds a 3, on the 2-3 domino.

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

• R1C7 is more than 4 (one cell)

  R1C7 holds a 5, on the 4-5 domino.
• R2C1, R3C1 and R3C2 total more than 17 (three cells)

  R2C1 holds a 6, on the 6-6 domino.
• R2C7 takes any value (one cell)

  R2C7 holds a 4, on the 4-5 domino.
• R2C8 and R2C9 add up to 2 (two cells)

  R2C8 holds a 1, on the 1-1 domino.
• R3C7 takes any value (one cell)

  R3C7 holds a 4, on the 1-4 domino.
• R3C8 and R3C9 add up to 5 (two cells)

  R3C8 holds a 5, on the 0-5 domino.
• R4C1, R5C1 and R5C2 add up to 16 (three cells)

  R4C1 holds a 4, on the 6-4 domino.
• R4C2, R4C3 and R5C3 are all different (three cells)

  R4C2 holds a 5, on the 6-5 domino.
• R4C4 takes any value (one cell)

  R4C4 holds a 5, on the 5-3 domino.
• R4C5, R4C6, R5C5 and R5C6 are equal (four cells)

  R4C5 holds a 3, on the 5-3 domino.
• R4C7 and R5C7 add up to 3 (two cells)

  R4C7 holds a 1, on the 1-4 domino.
• R5C4 is less than 3 (one cell)

  R5C4 holds a 2, on the 2-3 domino.
• R6C2, R7C2 and R7C3 add up to 10 (three cells)

  R6C2 holds a 3, on the 3-6 domino.
• R6C7 is less than 2 (one cell)

  R6C7 holds a 1, on the 2-1 domino.
• R7C7 adds up to 2 (one cell)

  The 2 comes from the 6-2 domino; its other half sits at R7C8.
• R7C8 is more than 3 (one cell)

  R7C8 holds a 6, on the 6-2 domino.

Solving tips

Show the solving tips

Look for single cells with a limit: a cell that must be less than 2, as R1C3 is on Thursday’s Easy board, can only hold a 0 or a 1. An “equal” region shrinks your options fast once one value is known; a double such as the 3-3 on the Medium board can supply two matching halves at once. On the Easy board, the two regions that add up to 11 each need a 6 and a 5, so the 5-2 and 5-1 dominoes go in different regions. On the Hard board, R2C1, R3C1 and R3C2 must total more than 17. Three halves can total 18 at most, so all three hold a 6. The board has six 6s, and the 6-6 double can supply two of them at once. R7C8 must be more than 3, so it holds a 4, 5 or 6.

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

Thursday’s Pips answers, Nov. 5, 2026 (spoilers)

Stop here if you want to solve the boards yourself.

Two dominoes on the Medium board can be flipped without breaking a rule: the 5-3 and the 4-1. Four on the Hard board can too: the 4-0, 6-4, 0-5 and 3-4. The Easy board has a single arrangement. The values below are one arrangement that fits the placements in the puzzle data and every region’s condition.

Easy, by Ian Livengood. Regions: R5C1 and R5C2 add up to 11; R1C1 and R1C2 add up to 11; R2C1, R3C1, R4C1 and R3C2 add up to 14; R1C3 is less than 2; R5C3 is less than 3.

• 6-0: R1C1 = 6, R2C1 = 0
• 6-6: R4C1 = 6, R5C1 = 6
• 5-2: R5C2 = 5, R5C3 = 2
• 4-4: R3C1 = 4, R3C2 = 4
• 5-1: R1C2 = 5, R1C3 = 1

Medium, by Rodolfo Kurchan. Regions: R1C2 is more than 0; R1C3 and R2C3 add up to 6; R1C4 and R2C4 are equal; R2C1 and R2C2 total more than 4; R3C2 adds up to 2; R3C3 and R3C4 are different; R3C5 adds up to 1; R4C2, R4C3 and R4C4 add up to 8.

• 5-3: R2C1 = 5, R2C2 = 3
• 4-0: R2C3 = 4, R3C3 = 0
• 5-1: R3C4 = 5, R3C5 = 1
• 2-3: R3C2 = 2, R4C2 = 3
• 1-2: R1C2 = 1, R1C3 = 2
• 4-1: R4C4 = 4, R4C3 = 1
• 3-3: R1C4 = 3, R2C4 = 3

Hard, by Rodolfo Kurchan. Regions: R1C7 is more than 4; R2C1, R3C1 and R3C2 total more than 17; R2C8 and R2C9 add up to 2; R3C8 and R3C9 add up to 5; R4C1, R5C1 and R5C2 add up to 16; R4C2, R4C3 and R5C3 are different; R4C5, R4C6, R5C5 and R5C6 are equal; R4C7 and R5C7 add up to 3; R5C4 is less than 3; R6C2, R7C2 and R7C3 add up to 10; R6C7 is less than 2; R7C7 adds up to 2; R7C8 is more than 3; R4C4 takes any value; R3C7 takes any value; R2C7 takes any value.

• 2-1: R5C7 = 2, R6C7 = 1
• 4-0: R4C3 = 4, R5C3 = 0
• 6-2: R7C8 = 6, R7C7 = 2
• 5-3: R4C4 = 5, R4C5 = 3
• 6-4: R5C1 = 6, R4C1 = 4
• 6-5: R3C2 = 6, R4C2 = 5
• 3-6: R6C2 = 3, R5C2 = 6
• 3-3: R4C6 = 3, R5C6 = 3
• 0-5: R3C9 = 0, R3C8 = 5
• 1-4: R4C7 = 1, R3C7 = 4
• 6-6: R2C1 = 6, R3C1 = 6
• 4-5: R2C7 = 4, R1C7 = 5
• 3-4: R7C2 = 3, R7C3 = 4
• 1-1: R2C8 = 1, R2C9 = 1
• 2-3: R5C4 = 2, R5C5 = 3

The Hard board has three doubles, 3-3, 6-6 and 1-1, so the matching halves in its “equal” regions can come from a double or from different dominoes. R2C7, R3C7 and R4C4 are the only cells with no condition, and they hold 4, 4 and 5. Friday’s boards arrive at midnight.