Pips Answer for Tuesday, January 20, 2026
Complete NYT Pips puzzle solution with interactive board and expert analysis.
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Nyt Pips easy answer for 2026-01-20
Answer for 2026-01-20
When I first opened up the Pips puzzle for today, I started with the Easy one to get my brain moving. Ian Livengood set a nice trap with those empty cells, but I focused on the Sum 9 first. Knowing I had dominoes like [6,4] and [1,5], I had to be careful where those high numbers landed.
The Sum 3 region at the top was a quick giveaway—I just needed to see which domino could bridge that gap. I eventually realized that the [2,3] domino was the only way to satisfy the mid-range sums without blocking the [6,6]. Moving to the
Nyt Pips medium answer for 2026-01-20
Answer for 2026-01-20
Medium puzzle by Rodolfo Kurchan, the difficulty definitely jumped. The three different 'Sum 10' regions were the main puzzle.
I looked at the dominoes [5,5] and [2,6] and knew they had to go there. The 'greater than' and 'less than' constraints (like the <3 and >3) helped me orient the dominoes so they didn't overlap incorrectly. The real breakthrough was the empty cell at [2,5], which forced the [2,4] side of a domino into a corner.
Nyt Pips hard answer for 2026-01-20
Answer for 2026-01-20
Finally, the Hard puzzle was a marathon. With 15 dominoes and that massive 'Equals' region involving six different cells, I had to find a value that appeared frequently across the set. I spent a good chunk of time tracking the [6,6] and [3,3] dominoes.
The region that required a 'Sum 0' was a total gift because it instantly told me where a 0-pip side had to be. I worked from the bottom up, using the <2 and Sum 5 constraints to lock in the bottom row before the middle of the board got too messy. It was all about finding those tiny anchors and building out from there.
What I Learned
Today really reinforced how powerful 'Empty' cells are. In the Easy puzzle, they basically act as walls that dictate the entire flow of the dominoes.
I also noticed a tricky pattern in the Hard puzzle where the 'Equals' constraints were used to bridge multiple dominoes together in a chain—if you get one value wrong in that six-cell chain, the whole thing falls apart like a house of cards. I learned to look for the 'Sum 0' or 'Sum 1' regions first because they have the fewest possible combinations, which gives you a solid starting point. Also, Rodolfo loves using 'Sum 10' in Medium puzzles to force you to use your high-value pips early, which can leave you struggling for small numbers later if you aren't careful.