Pips Answer for Tuesday, April 14, 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
Warming Up With Some Simple Matches
Nyt Pips easy answer for 2026-04-14
Answer for 2026-04-14
Starting off with the easy grid today, I first looked at the right side of the board. The constraint for cell 2,5 said it had to be greater than 5, which immediately told me it had to be a 6. Since the domino at 1,5 and 2,5 was part of a pair, and cell 1,5 had an equals constraint with 0,5, I could see a pattern forming. I used the 6,6 domino for that 1,5 and 2,5 spot, which then forced cell 0,5 to also be a 6 because of that equals rule.
On the other side of the board, I noticed cell 0,1 had to be less than 2. That meant it could only be a 0 or a 1. Looking at our domino pile, the 2,1 domino was the perfect fit to connect 0,0 and 0,1. From there, it was just a matter of placing the remaining pieces like the 3,5 and the 2,2. The equals region involving 1,2 and 1,3 was the last piece of the puzzle, and once those were set, everything clicked into place beautifully.
Navigating the Midday Maze
Nyt Pips medium answer for 2026-04-14
Answer for 2026-04-14
The medium puzzle today felt a bit more like a jigsaw. I started by identifying the empty spots at 3,0 and 3,3. Since these are essentially zeros, I looked for dominoes in my tray that had a 0 on one side. I had the 0,1 and 0,2 dominoes ready to go. I placed the 0,1 domino at 3,0 and 2,0, and used the 0,2 for the 3,3 and 2,3 connection. This immediately helped define the boundaries for the rest of the pips.
Next, I tackled the equals region in the center at 1,3, 1,4, and 2,3. Since I already knew 2,3 was a 2, those other two cells had to be 2s as well. This led me to the greater than 2 constraint at 0,4. With a few 2s already on the board, I realized the 2,4 domino had to fit there to satisfy the rule. The rest of the board, like the 3,3 domino at 3,1 and 3,2, fell right into line once the zeros and twos were settled.
Conquering the Grid Giant
Nyt Pips hard answer for 2026-04-14
Answer for 2026-04-14
Wow, the hard puzzle really made me work for it today! The breakthrough came when I focused on the sum constraints. I saw that cells 1,2 and 2,2 needed to sum to 4, and similarly, cell 1,4 had its own sum target of 4. I spent a good few minutes testing different combinations before realizing how the empty cells at 0,2 and 1,3 acted as anchors. By placing the 0,2 domino across 0,2 and 1,2, I satisfied the empty rule and set up the sum perfectly.
The bottom of the grid was the real test. There were two separate sum targets of 3 at 9,0 and 9,4. I had to be very careful with the 0,3 domino to make sure it didn't conflict with the large equals regions at 8,2 and 9,2. I found that using the 6,6 and 5,6 dominoes in the middle helped clear up the clutter. Once I realized the 0,0 domino had to sit at 1,0 and 1,1 to satisfy that less than 4 rule and the empty spot, the entire bottom row finally aligned.
Pro Tips for Today's Puzzle
Always start by looking for the most restrictive constraints first, like a cell that has to be greater than 5 or an empty spot that must be 0.
Use the empty cells as anchors to decide which direction a domino must face, and if you get stuck, look for large regions where multiple cells must be equal, as these limit your domino choices the most.
What I Learned
Today I really noticed how the empty constraints can act as a wall that funnels your choices.
In the hard puzzle, the way the zeros were scattered made it impossible to place the larger dominoes like the 6,6 anywhere but the center, which is a neat trick by the designer to narrow down the possibilities early on if you spot it.