NYT Pips hints, answers for October 16, 2026

Welcome to your guide for Pips, the brand new game by the New York Times, released back in August 2025. This game offers a fresh take on dominoes, providing a single-player experience that could quickly turn into your go-to daily pastime. If you've ever encountered a challenging game and only been given the option to reveal the whole puzzle, leaving you to restart at the next difficulty level, worry not. We're here to assist! Below are targeted hints, serving as subtle clues to help you navigate each difficulty level.

To play Pips, a game closely related to classic dominoes, you'll be placing tiles vertically or horizontally, with their connection to each other being the key aspect. The main distinction from traditional dominoes lies in the color-coded conditions that each tile must meet. These conditions, tied to the color-coded spaces, are not necessarily about matching numbers; rather, they dictate specific rules to follow.

For instance, if a space is color-coded with a single number, every side of a tile within that space must sum up to that number. It's quite common for only half a tile to fall within a color-coded area.

Let's dive into some common examples you'll face across different difficulty levels:

- **Number**: All the pips in a space must add up to the given number.

- **Equal**: Each domino half in a space must share the same number of pips.

- **Not Equal**: Each domino half in a space must display a different number of pips.

- **Less than**: Every domino half in a space must sum up to less than the specified number.

- **Greater than**: Every domino half in a space must sum up to more than the specified number.

If an area lacks any color coding, it signifies that there are no restrictions on the tiles within those spaces.

Here are some suggested solutions for October 16, 2026:

Easy difficulty:

- **Number (5)**: The answer is 1-2 placed vertically, or 3-5 placed vertically.

- **Equal (5)**: The answer is 3-5 placed vertically, or 5-4 placed vertically.

- **Equal (4)**: The answer is 5-4 placed vertically, 4-4 placed vertically, or 4-6 placed horizontally.

- **Greater Than (1)**: The answer is 4-6 placed horizontally.

Medium difficulty:

- **Less Than (1)**: The answer is 0-1 placed vertically.

- **Number (3)**: The answer is 4-2 placed horizontally, or 0-1 placed vertically.

- **Greater Than (2)**: The answer is 4-5 placed vertically.

- **Greater Than (9)**: The answer is 1-5 placed horizontally, or 5-5 placed horizontally.

- **Greater Than (9)**: The answer is 5-5 placed horizontally, or 4-5 placed vertically.

- **Number (1)**: The answer is 1-5 placed horizontally, or 0-4 placed horizontally.

- **Greater Than (3)**: The answer is 0-4 placed horizontally.

Hard difficulty:

- **Number (4)**: The answer is 2-4 placed horizontally.

- **Number (1)**: The answer is 1-5 placed vertically.

- **Number (6)**: The answer is 6-2 placed vertically.

- **Number (5)**: The answer is 1-5 placed vertically.

- **Number (1)**: The answer is 1-4 placed horizontally.

- **Not Equal**: The answer is 6-2 placed vertically, or 1-4 placed horizontally.

- **Number (0)**: The answer is 1-0 placed vertically.

- **Number (2)**: The answer is 1-2 placed vertically.

- **Equal (0)**: The answer is 0-0 placed vertically, or 0-3 placed vertically.

- **Number (2)**: The answer is 1-1 placed vertically.

- **Greater Than (9)**: The answer is 0-3 placed vertically, or 4-3 placed vertically.

- **Greater Than (8)**: The answer is 3-2 placed vertically, or 4-5 placed vertically.

- **Equal (5)**: The answer is 3-5 placed vertically, 4-5 placed vertically, or 5-5 placed vertically.