Pips Answer for Thursday, January 15, 2026
Complete NYT Pips puzzle solution with interactive board and expert analysis.
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Expert Puzzle Analysis
Deep insights from puzzle experts
Nyt Pips easy answer for 2026-01-15
Answer for 2026-01-15
I tackled the easy puzzle first by looking for the most restricted regions. The region at index 0,5 with a sum target of zero was the obvious starting point, forcing a zero there.
From there, I looked at the sum targets of 4 and 7 to narrow down which dominoes from the set [0,0, 3,1, 3,6, 1,1, 0,1, 4,1] could actually fit. The
Nyt Pips medium answer for 2026-01-15
Answer for 2026-01-15
medium puzzle required a bit more care with the equality constraints.
I focused on the sum of 12 across three cells, which limited the possible values significantly since I only had specific dominoes like 6,6 and 5,5 available. Mapping out the equal regions [0,4]/[1,4] and [2,3]/[2,4]/[2,5] allowed me to place the larger pairs.
Nyt Pips hard answer for 2026-01-15
Answer for 2026-01-15
For the hard puzzle, the unequal constraints and the greater-than targets were the keys.
I started with the regions that had very high or very low targets, like the 'greater than 3' at 0,1 and 9,1. By cross-referencing the available dominoes like 6,6 and 3,5, I could deduce the placement of the smaller tiles first and then fit the larger ones into the equality chains.
What I Learned
One interesting pattern I noticed was how often equality regions act as anchors for the entire grid. If you have a long chain of equal cells, it drastically reduces the number of dominoes that can span those gaps.
In the hard puzzle, the 'unequal' constraints were actually more helpful than they looked because they helped me rule out doubles like 1,1 or 6,6 in certain orientations. I also realized that checking the remaining inventory of dominoes after every few placements is the fastest way to spot a bottleneck before it becomes a mistake.