Pips Answer for Thursday, February 5, 2026
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 2026-02-05
Answer for 2026-02-05
Solving the Pips puzzles today was a journey through logic and a bit of trial and error that felt really rewarding. I started with the Easy puzzle by Ian Livengood. My first move is always to look for the 'empty' cells because they act as anchors. Cell [0,3] was empty, which gave me a clear spot to work around.
The 'equals' region covering [0,1], [0,2], and [1,1] was the next big clue. I looked at my dominoes—[0,3], [2,5], [5,1], [4,5], [0,1]—and realized that for three cells to be equal, I needed a value that appeared frequently. After testing a few pips, the [0,1] domino fell into place nicely. The sum of 5 at the bottom was the final piece of the puzzle, and once I slotted in the [2,3] and [2,2] set, everything just snapped together. Moving on to the
Nyt Pips medium answer for 2026-02-05
Answer for 2026-02-05
Medium puzzle, it felt a bit more crowded. I noticed the sum targets right away. The sum of 10 at [3,4] and [3,5] was a huge giveaway since I had the [4,6] domino available.
That's a classic Pips move: find the biggest sum and match it to your biggest domino. The three empty cells at [0,2], [2,4], and [4,2] acted like walls, helping me see where the dominoes couldn't go. The hardest part was the sum of 8 at [4,3] and [5,3], but once the [4,6] and [6,0] were placed, the options for 8 narrowed down significantly.
Nyt Pips hard answer for 2026-02-05
Answer for 2026-02-05
Finally, the Hard puzzle by Rodolfo Kurchan really made me sweat. That 'greater than 15' region at [2,0], [3,0], and [3,1] was the key. To get a total over 15 with just three cells, you almost always need the [6,6] domino or something very close to it. I spent about five minutes just shuffling the high-value pips around that corner.
The long 'equals' chain at [2,4], [2,5], [2,6], and [3,4] was another bottleneck. I had to look at the list of twelve dominoes and find values that repeated enough to satisfy that long chain. I found that using the [2,5] and [2,6] pips in that area allowed the rest of the board to balance out. The 'sum of 10' at the bottom right was my final check, and when the [1,7] and [2,7] domino fit perfectly, I knew I had it.
What I Learned
Today's puzzles really reinforced the idea that you should always start with the most restrictive constraints. In the Hard puzzle, the sum greater than 15 was so restrictive that it basically dictated the placement of the largest dominoes.
I also learned to pay closer attention to how 'empty' cells can isolate parts of the grid. In the Medium puzzle, those empty spots essentially carved the board into smaller, more manageable sections. Another interesting thing I spotted was a pattern in the 'equals' regions; when a region spans across multiple rows and columns, it often forces you to use the same domino value across different dominoes, which is a great way to eliminate pips from your mental checklist.