Pips Answer for Monday, October 20, 2025
Complete NYT Pips puzzle solution with interactive board and expert analysis.
Click a domino below or a cell on the board to reveal
Expert Puzzle Analysis
Deep insights from puzzle experts
Nyt Pips easy answer for 2025-10-20
Answer for 2025-10-20
Solving the Pips puzzles today was quite a journey, starting with the Easy board by Rodolfo Kurchan. My first instinct on the Easy level is always to look for the biggest sums because they usually have fewer combinations. I saw a Sum 11 and a Sum 10. With dominoes like [4,5] and [6,0] and [6,2], I knew that 11 had to come from the 6 and 5 side-by-side.
I placed the [4,5] and [6,0] pieces near those target regions. The Unequal constraint was a nice little nudge to make sure I didn't repeat numbers in that column. Once the big numbers were locked in, the Sum 9 fell into place using the [3,3] and part of the [0,3] domino. Moving to the
Nyt Pips medium answer for 2025-10-20
Answer for 2025-10-20
Medium puzzle, also by Rodolfo, my eyes went straight to that Sum 0 region. Since you can't have negative pips, every single spot in that four-cell region had to be a zero. That immediately told me where the [0,0] domino and other zero-pips were.
The 'Greater than 4' spots were the next anchors; I saved my 5s and 6s for those. The 'Equals' regions are always fun because they act like a mirror—once you know one side, you know the other. I finished by slotting the [4,4] and [4,5] pieces into the remaining gaps.
Nyt Pips hard answer for 2025-10-20
Answer for 2025-10-20
Finally, the Hard puzzle by Heidi Erwin was the real brain-buster. The 'Unequal' region was massive, covering seven cells. Since dominoes only go up to 6, a seven-cell unequal region means every single value from 0 to 6 must be used exactly once. That's a huge hint!
I combined that with the Sum 13 constraint. To get 13 in three cells, you need big numbers like 6, 5, and 2, or 6, 4, and 3. I spent a bit of time swapping the [6,4] and [6,2] dominoes back and forth until the 'Greater than 2' and 'Sum 6' regions were satisfied. It felt like a giant game of musical chairs with dots!
What I Learned
Today really reinforced the 'constraint satisfaction' strategy. On the Hard board, that seven-cell unequal region was a masterclass in deduction—it basically forced the entire bottom half of the board.
I also learned that 'Sum 0' is the best gift a constructor can give you because it removes all the guesswork for those cells. I noticed a pattern where the constructors like to place the empty cells near high-value regions to limit your options even further. It's a clever way to make a small board feel much more complex than it looks at first glance.