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Special Difficulty: 7/10

NYT Pips Answer Yesterday — Sunday, June 28, 2026

Puzzle #995 • Difficulty 7/10

Yesterday's NYT Pips Answer

Yesterday's NYT Pips Puzzle

?
? >5
?
?
?
? 12
?
?
?
? =

Click a domino to reveal its placement

Deep Dive

Grid Dimensions

Difficulty Grid Dominoes Cells
Easy 2×5 5 10
Medium 6×4 7 14
Hard 8×10 15 30

Constraint Breakdown (Medium)

> Greater than 3
< Less than 1
# Sum target 3
No constraint 17

Domino Pool (Medium)

Total pip count

40

Average per domino

5.7

Highest domino

[6|6] = 12

Lowest domino

[0|0] = 0

Constructor

Created by: [object Object]

Puzzle Analysis

The Pips puzzle today offered a satisfying challenge. The easy and medium puzzles were straightforward, with domino placements quickly becoming apparent. The hard puzzle, however, demanded more thought. Its difficulty stemmed from the large board size and the sheer number of dominoes required. The key insight involved recognizing how certain domino placements on the edges constrained the rest of the grid. This puzzle felt appropriately rated at 7/10. The hard board's complexity provided a good test of spatial reasoning and patience.

How to Play NYT Pips

NYT Pips presents a grid with colored constraint regions. Your goal is to place all dominoes from the pool so every constraint is satisfied.

Each domino has two halves showing pip values (0–6 dots). Place them horizontally or vertically on the grid so adjacent cells form valid domino pairs.

Regions impose constraints: 'greater than' (>), 'less than' (<), 'equals' (=), or 'sum'. All cells in a region must satisfy its constraint using the pip values.

Three difficulty levels are available each day: Easy (small grid, few dominoes), Medium (moderate), and Hard (large grid, many dominoes). A new puzzle is available daily at midnight ET.

Play at nytimes.com/games/pips. A new puzzle is available every day.

Tips & Strategy

  • Start with the Easy puzzle to learn the constraint types, then work up to Medium and Hard.
  • Look for regions with 'equals' constraints first. They restrict which domino pairs can go where most tightly.
  • Count how many times each pip value appears in the domino pool. Match these counts against constraint targets to find forced placements.
  • On Hard mode, start from corners and edges where dominoes have fewer valid orientations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does NYT Pips repeat past answers?
NYT Pips aims to provide a fresh challenge every day without repeating recent answers.
Where can I find all past NYT Pips answers?
This page is the complete archive of past NYT Pips answers, updated daily after each new puzzle.
How is difficulty rated?
Difficulty is rated on a 1-10 scale based on answer complexity and how many hints players typically need.

More Special Games

Looking for more puzzles? Try Contexto answer and hints, NYT Mini Crossword help, or today's Nerdle.

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