NYT Pips for October 13, 2026 has three boards: Easy with 5 dominoes, Medium with 7, and Hard with 12. This page solves each board one domino at a time.
Pips board marks
Each colored region on a Pips board has a mark that says what the pips inside it must do.
- A number means the pips in that region must add up to that number.
- The mark = means every half in that region must show the same number of pips.
- The mark ≠ means every half in that region must show a different number of pips.
- A mark such as <3 means the pips in that region must add up to less than that number.
- A mark such as >4 means the pips in that region must add up to more than that number.
- A cell with no mark can take any number of pips.
NYT Pips Hard Hints and Answer – October 13
The Hard board takes 12 dominoes and was made by Rodolfo Kurchan. This board has 24 cells, 12 dominoes, 14 marked regions and 78 pips in total. This board has more than one layout that meets every rule, and these steps follow one of them.
Finished Hard board
Puzzle:
The empty board is shown with its 12 dominoes listed below.
Three hints come before the full steps. Each one reveals more of the board than the one before it.
Hint 1 · first domino
Place the 2-2 domino in column 6, covering rows 1 and 2. Both halves show 2 and sit on the region marked “=”.
Hint 2 · first three dominoes
- Place the 2-2 domino in column 6, covering rows 1 and 2. Both halves show 2 and sit on the region marked “=”.
- Place the 3-3 domino in column 1, covering rows 2 and 3. Both halves show 3 and sit on the region marked “=”.
- Place the 4-1 domino across row 1, covering columns 1 and 2. The half showing 4 sits on the cell marked “4”, and the half showing 1 sits on the cell marked “<2”. No other domino fits there at this point.
Hint 3 · half the board
Hard board: all 12 steps
- Place the 2-2 domino in column 6, covering rows 1 and 2. Both halves show 2 and sit on the region marked “=”.
- Place the 3-3 domino in column 1, covering rows 2 and 3. Both halves show 3 and sit on the region marked “=”.
- Place the 4-1 domino across row 1, covering columns 1 and 2. The half showing 4 sits on the cell marked “4”, and the half showing 1 sits on the cell marked “<2”. No other domino fits there at this point.
- Place the 6-1 domino across row 1, covering columns 3 and 4. The half showing 6 sits on a blank cell, and the half showing 1 sits on the cell marked “1”.
- Place the 4-3 domino in column 6, covering rows 3 and 4. The half showing 4 sits on the cell marked “4”, and the half showing 3 sits on the cell marked “>2”.
- Place the 2-5 domino in column 4, covering rows 2 and 3. The half showing 2 sits on the region marked “7”, and the half showing 5 sits on the region marked “7”.
- Place the 4-6 domino in column 6, covering rows 5 and 6. The half showing 4 sits on the region marked “10”, and the half showing 6 sits on the region marked “10”.
- Place the 2-4 domino in column 1, covering rows 5 and 6. The half showing 2 sits on the cell marked “<3”, and the half showing 4 sits on the cell marked “<5”.
- Place the 3-5 domino across row 4, covering columns 1 and 2. The half showing 3 sits on the region marked “=”, and the half showing 5 sits on the region marked “≠”.
- Place the 6-2 domino in column 4, covering rows 5 and 6. The half showing 6 sits on the region marked “8”, and the half showing 2 sits on the region marked “8”.
- Place the 3-1 domino across row 6, covering columns 7 and 8. The half showing 3 sits on the region marked “4”, and the half showing 1 sits on the region marked “4”.
- The last domino, 0-6, goes across row 4, covering columns 3 and 4. The half showing 0 sits on the region marked “≠”, and the half showing 6 sits on the region marked “≠”.
Numbers in every marked region of the Hard board
- “4”: 4
- “<2”: 1
- “1”: 1
- “=”: 2 + 2
- “=”: 3 + 3 + 3
- “7”: 2 + 5
- “4”: 4
- “≠”: 5 + 0 + 6
- “>2”: 3
- “<3”: 2
- “8”: 6 + 2
- “10”: 4 + 6
- “<5”: 4
- “4”: 3 + 1
NYT Pips Medium Hints and Answer – October 13
The Medium board takes 7 dominoes and was made by Ian Livengood. This board has 14 cells, 7 dominoes, 8 marked regions and 30 pips in total. This board has more than one layout that meets every rule, and these steps follow one of them.
Finished Medium board
Puzzle:
The empty board is shown with its 7 dominoes listed below.
Three hints come before the full steps. Each one reveals more of the board than the one before it.
Hint 1 · first domino
Place the 5-3 domino across row 1, covering columns 3 and 4. The half showing 5 sits on the cell marked “>3”, and the half showing 3 sits on the cell marked “3”.
Hint 2 · first three dominoes
- Place the 5-3 domino across row 1, covering columns 3 and 4. The half showing 5 sits on the cell marked “>3”, and the half showing 3 sits on the cell marked “3”.
- Place the 0-2 domino in column 6, covering rows 2 and 3. The half showing 0 sits on the region marked “>3”, and the half showing 2 sits on the cell marked “2”.
- Place the 2-4 domino across row 1, covering columns 5 and 6. The half showing 2 sits on the region marked “3”, and the half showing 4 sits on the region marked “>3”.
Hint 3 · half the board
Medium board: all 7 steps
- Place the 5-3 domino across row 1, covering columns 3 and 4. The half showing 5 sits on the cell marked “>3”, and the half showing 3 sits on the cell marked “3”.
- Place the 0-2 domino in column 6, covering rows 2 and 3. The half showing 0 sits on the region marked “>3”, and the half showing 2 sits on the cell marked “2”.
- Place the 2-4 domino across row 1, covering columns 5 and 6. The half showing 2 sits on the region marked “3”, and the half showing 4 sits on the region marked “>3”.
- Place the 0-1 domino across row 2, covering columns 4 and 5. The half showing 0 sits on the region marked “<4”, and the half showing 1 sits on the region marked “3”. No other domino fits there at this point.
- Place the 1-5 domino across row 2, covering columns 2 and 3. The half showing 1 sits on the region marked “<2”, and the half showing 5 sits on the region marked “>8”. No other domino fits there at this point.
- Place the 0-0 domino across row 3, covering columns 1 and 2. Both halves show 0 and sit on the region marked “<2”. No other domino fits there at this point.
- The last domino, 4-3, goes across row 3, covering columns 3 and 4. The half showing 4 sits on the region marked “>8”, and the half showing 3 sits on the region marked “<4”.
Numbers in every marked region of the Medium board
- “>3”: 5
- “3”: 3
- “3”: 2 + 1
- “>3”: 4 + 0
- “<2”: 1 + 0 + 0
- “>8”: 5 + 4
- “<4”: 0 + 3
- “2”: 2
NYT Pips Easy Hints and Answer – October 13
The Easy board takes 5 dominoes and was made by Ian Livengood. This board has 10 cells, 5 dominoes, 6 marked regions and 38 pips in total. This board has more than one layout that meets every rule, and these steps follow one of them.
Finished Easy board
Puzzle:
The empty board is shown with its 5 dominoes listed below.
Three hints come before the full steps. Each one reveals more of the board than the one before it.
Hint 1 · first domino
Place the 3-1 domino in column 2, covering rows 3 and 4. The half showing 3 sits on the region marked “6”, and the half showing 1 sits on the region marked “2”.
Hint 2 · first three dominoes
- Place the 3-1 domino in column 2, covering rows 3 and 4. The half showing 3 sits on the region marked “6”, and the half showing 1 sits on the region marked “2”.
- Place the 6-3 domino across row 2, covering columns 1 and 2. The half showing 6 sits on the cell marked “6”, and the half showing 3 sits on the region marked “6”. No other domino fits there at this point.
- Place the 1-6 domino across row 4, covering columns 3 and 4. The half showing 1 sits on the region marked “2”, and the half showing 6 sits on the region marked “=”. No other domino fits there at this point.
Hint 3 · half the board
Easy board: all 5 steps
- Place the 3-1 domino in column 2, covering rows 3 and 4. The half showing 3 sits on the region marked “6”, and the half showing 1 sits on the region marked “2”.
- Place the 6-3 domino across row 2, covering columns 1 and 2. The half showing 6 sits on the cell marked “6”, and the half showing 3 sits on the region marked “6”. No other domino fits there at this point.
- Place the 1-6 domino across row 4, covering columns 3 and 4. The half showing 1 sits on the region marked “2”, and the half showing 6 sits on the region marked “=”. No other domino fits there at this point.
- Place the 6-6 domino across row 1, covering columns 3 and 4. The half showing 6 sits on the cell marked “6”, and the half showing 6 sits on the region marked “6”.
- The last domino, 0-6, goes in column 4, covering rows 2 and 3. The half showing 0 sits on the region marked “6”, and the half showing 6 sits on the region marked “=”.
Numbers in every marked region of the Easy board
- “6”: 6
- “6”: 6 + 0
- “6”: 6
- “6”: 3 + 3
- “=”: 6 + 6
- “2”: 1 + 1
More Pips: Yesterday’s three boards · Play Pips on The New York Times
Also today: Wordle · Connections · Strands · Phrazle · Quordle · Keyword · Colordle · Unwordle · Hurdle
Earlier days: 12 Oct · 11 Oct · 10 Oct · 9 Oct · 8 Oct · 7 Oct · 6 Oct
Questions about Pips
When does Pips change to a new puzzle?
A new puzzle arrives at midnight in the player’s own time zone.
How many tries does a player get in Pips?
There is no limit; dominoes can be moved as often as needed.
Where can a person play Pips?
Play on The New York Times Games site or in the NYT Games app: Pips.
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