Pips Answer for Tuesday, April 7, 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
Waking Up With A Gentle Start
Nyt Pips easy answer for 2026-04-07
Answer for 2026-04-07
Today’s easy puzzle was such a nice way to start the morning. I immediately looked for those empty cells at 0,3 and 4,3. Since those spots have to stay empty, it really limits where the dominoes can go. I saw that the cell at 0,0 needed a sum of 4, so I knew I had to use a domino with a 4 on one side. I ended up placing a domino across 0,0 and 0,1, which helped me figure out the equals constraint for the cells at 0,1 and 0,2.
The bottom part of the grid was just as fun. There was a sum target of 3 for the cells at 4,0, 4,1, and 4,2. Since the cell at 4,3 was one of those empty ones, it left the perfect amount of space. I found that using the 1,1 domino for 4,0 and 4,1 worked perfectly, leaving just a 1 for the 4,2 spot. It felt like the pieces just fell right into place once I got that bottom row sorted out.
Finding My Groove In The Middle
Nyt Pips medium answer for 2026-04-07
Answer for 2026-04-07
The medium puzzle today definitely stepped things up a notch. The first thing that caught my eye was the sum target of 7 for the cells at 1,0 and 2,0. I had to look at my available dominoes like the 4,0 and the 3,6 to see what could possibly fit there. It took a little bit of shuffling, but once I realized how the equals constraint at 1,1 and 2,1 worked, the left side of the board started to make sense.
I hit a little bit of a wall in the middle, but the sum target of 4 at 3,4 was a lifesaver. Since that was just a single cell, it told me exactly what value had to go there. Placing the 5,4 domino vertically between 3,3 and 3,4 was the key. From there, I just had to make sure the less than constraints at 0,3 and 1,3 were satisfied, which was easy once I had the higher numbers out of the way. It is all about finding those single-cell anchors!
Conquering The Big One
Nyt Pips hard answer for 2026-04-07
Answer for 2026-04-07
Wow, the hard puzzle today by Rodolfo Kurchan was a real test of patience. With fifteen different dominoes and targets all over the place, I started with the zeros to keep my sanity. Regions like 1,0 and 2,0 adding up to 0, and the lone zero at 2,2, gave me some much-needed breathing room. It is always a relief to get those empty or zero spots filled in first so you can see the actual shape of the challenge remaining.
The trickiest part for me was the bottom left corner. Getting a sum of 10 for cells 4,0 and 4,1 required using some of the biggest pips available, like the 5s from different dominoes. I had to be really careful not to use up a domino I needed for the equals constraint spanning 3,2, 3,3, and 3,4. The breakthrough came when I solved the 3,5 and 4,5 sum of 9. Once the 4,5 domino was locked in that corner, the rest of the board finally stopped fighting me and I could finish the center section.
Pro Tips for Today's Puzzle
Start by filling in any regions that have a sum of zero or are marked as empty, as these are the easiest spots to identify.
Look for regions that only cover a single cell because they tell you the exact pip value you need. If you get stuck, look at your list of available dominoes to see which ones are the only possible fit for high-value sum targets like 9 or 10.
What I Learned
Today I really noticed how much the empty cells act as barriers that define the flow of the entire grid.
In the hard puzzle, the way the equals constraints interacted with the high sum targets taught me to save my high-value dominoes until I am absolutely sure where they belong. It is so easy to accidentally use a 5 early on and regret it later when you need it to reach a sum of 10!