Pips Answer for Monday, January 26, 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 2026-01-26
Answer for 2026-01-26
I started with the Easy puzzle by focusing on the large central region that required a sum of 30.
Given the available dominoes, which were mostly high-value tiles like [5,5], [6,5], and [4,5], I knew the 6-cell block had to consume almost all the heavy hitters. I placed the [5,5], [6,5], and [4,5] tiles first to hit that 30 target, then used the smaller tiles like [2,5] and [5,1] to satisfy the 'less than 3' and 'greater than 5' constraints on the edges.
Nyt Pips medium answer for 2026-01-26
Answer for 2026-01-26
In the Medium puzzle, the key was the two sum-of-10 regions.
Since I only had [4,4], [6,0], and [6,2] as potential high combinations, I deduced that the [4,4] couldn't be used for a 10, so the [6,4] equivalent logic led me to place the [0,6] and [4,6] variants carefully. The 'equals' constraints acted as anchors, forcing specific orientations of the [2,2] and [4,4] tiles.
Nyt Pips hard answer for 2026-01-26
Answer for 2026-01-26
For the Hard puzzle, I looked for the sum-of-4 and sum-of-9 constraints at the bottom.
The [6,6] tile was too large for most sums, so it had to be paired with a very low number or placed where it didn't violate the 'less than 2' rule. I used a process of elimination on the [3,3], [3,4], [4,3], [4,4] unequal block, ensuring no two adjacent numbers were the same, which eventually locked the rest of the board into place.
What I Learned
This set really highlighted how 'equals' regions can be used to burn through doubles like [2,2] or [4,4] early on.
I also noticed a tricky pattern in the Hard puzzle where the sum-of-5 region was adjacent to the empty cell, which limited the possible orientations for the [1,4] and [3,2] tiles. The biggest takeaway was that high-sum targets in small areas are often the best place to start because they have fewer mathematical combinations than smaller sums.