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Home Archive 2026-02-09

Pips Answer for Monday, February 9, 2026

Complete NYT Pips puzzle solution with interactive board and expert analysis.

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Progress 0/5 dominoes
<2
8
=
>4

Click a domino or a cell to reveal the answer

Solution & Analysis

Complete answers and solving insights for 2026-02-09

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NYT Pips easy answer for 2026-02-09

NYT Pips easy answer for 2026-02-09

<2
8
=
>4

Complete answer for 2026-02-09 (Easy)

Solving this set of Pips puzzles felt like a great brain workout for a Monday morning. I started with Ian Livengood's Easy grid. The first thing I noticed was the region at [3,0] that had to be greater than 4.

Looking at the available dominoes, I knew I either needed the 5 or the 6 in that spot. Since [3,0] was paired with [2,0] in the solution, and they had to help satisfy the sum of 8 in the nearby region, I realized the [6,0] domino was the perfect fit there. Once that fell into place, the 'less than 2' constraint at the top left was easy to fill with the [0,0] domino. Moving on to the

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NYT Pips medium answer for 2026-02-09

NYT Pips medium answer for 2026-02-09

2
2
=
<2
=
>9
2

Complete answer for 2026-02-09 (Medium)

Medium puzzle, the anchor for me was the 'greater than 9' region in the bottom right. With two cells, you basically need a sum of 10, 11, or 12.

Since the [6,5] domino was available, it was a prime candidate, but I had to be careful how I placed the [0,6] and [6,3] dominoes first to make sure the 'equals' and 'sum of 2' regions didn't get blocked. The

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NYT Pips hard answer for 2026-02-09

NYT Pips hard answer for 2026-02-09

4
6
2
=
>15
0
0
16
9
≠
0
=

Complete answer for 2026-02-09 (Hard)

Hard puzzle by Rodolfo Kurchan was the real meat of the day. That massive 7-cell 'unequal' region is a classic Pips trap. Because there are 7 cells and only 7 possible values in a standard domino set (0 through 6), I knew every single digit had to appear exactly once in that cluster.

I spent a good chunk of time cross-referencing that with the sum of 16 region at [4,4], [5,4], and [6,4]. To get a 16 out of three cells, you need big numbers like 6, 5, and 5 or 6, 6, and 4. I mapped out the [5,5] and [4,4] dominoes and realized they had to be split across these boundaries to make the math work. The 'sum of 0' regions are always a gift because they immediately tell you where the blanks (0s) go, which helped me narrow down the placement for the [0,0] and [1,0] dominoes.

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What I Learned

Today really reinforced how important it is to look for 'constrained' regions first. In the Hard puzzle, that 'unequal' region with 7 cells is a huge hint because it effectively uses up one of every number.

I also found a cool pattern in the Medium puzzle where 'sum to 2' regions in a 5x4 grid often act as bottlenecks. If you place a domino with high pips there, you're stuck immediately. Another trick I used was looking at the 'empty' regions in the Easy puzzle; they don't contribute to sums, but they still take up a domino half, which helps narrow down where the remaining high-value dominoes like the [5,4] can actually live without breaking the math in other areas.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does the 'unequal' region type mean in the Hard puzzle?
It means that every single cell within that colored region must contain a different number of pips. Since that specific region had 7 cells, it had to contain one each of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
How do you handle 'greater than' targets with only one or two cells?
You look at your available dominoes for the highest numbers. For a 'greater than 9' target with two cells, you are looking for combinations like 4 and 6, 5 and 5, or 5 and 6. Check your domino list to see which of those pairs are actually available to be placed adjacent to each other.
What is the best strategy for the 'empty' regions?
Treat them as space-fillers. They don't have a numerical requirement, so they are perfect for 'dumping' the halves of dominoes that you don't need for a specific sum elsewhere. If you have a [6,0] domino and you only need the 6 for a sum, the 0 can often sit in an empty or target-less cell.

How to Use This Board

1

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2

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3

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4

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