Pips Today: Hints and Answers for November 12
Three boards a day. Place every domino so each outlined region satisfies its rule. The hints give approach and opening region per difficulty; placements wait until the bottom.
Today's three boards
The tray and each region's rule — board data, no solutions.
Easy board · 5 dominoes · 5 regions
Dominoes: 0–62–21–12–13–6
- two cells: exactly 9.
- four cells: exactly 9.
- two cells: exactly 4.
- one cell: under 3.
- one cell: left uncovered.
This board is relatively simple with only 5 dominoes and straightforward constraints.
Medium board · 7 dominoes · 6 regions
Dominoes: 1–65–60–30–04–46–65–4
- three cells: under 3.
- three cells: all matching.
- two cells: all matching.
- two cells: exactly 9.
- three cells: exactly 9.
- one cell: more than 5.
This board has more dominoes and complex constraints, making it moderately challenging.
Hard board · 16 dominoes · 20 regions
Dominoes: 0–31–14–12–23–45–63–52–31–51–24–03–10–51–62–45–5
- two cells: more than 6.
- two cells: more than 8.
- one cell: under 4.
- 3 ×one cell: exactly 0.
- two cells: under 4.
- three cells: exactly 3.
- 2 ×two cells: more than 7.
- one cell: under 5.
- three cells: all matching.
- two cells: exactly 6.
- two cells: all matching.
- two cells: under 5.
- 3 ×one cell: left uncovered.
- one cell: exactly 6.
- one cell: more than 1.
This board is the most challenging due to the large number of dominoes and complex constraints.
Pips hints, one rung at a time
Six rungs, easy board first. This page remembers which ones you opened while these boards are current.
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Hint 1: How the three boards compare today
Dominoes to place: 5 easy, 7 medium, 16 hard.
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Hint 2: Easy board: how to approach it
Method only — no placements.
Start by identifying regions with the most restrictive constraints and look for dominoes that can only fit in one place.
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Hint 3: Easy board: where to start
The region with the sum 4 over 2 cells constraint is a good starting point.
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Hint 4: Medium board: approach and first region
Look for regions with multiple constraints and try to find dominoes that satisfy multiple conditions at once.
The region with the equals over 3 cells constraint is a good starting point.
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Hint 5: Hard board: how to approach it
Focus on regions with the most restrictive constraints and use a process of elimination to narrow down possible placements.
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Hint 6: Hard board: where to start
Last rung before the walkthroughs.
The region with the sum 0 over 1 cell constraint is a good starting point.
Today's Pips walkthroughs
Spoilers below: each places every domino.
Easy board · 5 dominoes
Easy walkthrough
Place the 2/1 domino in the sum 4 over 2 cells region. Then, place the 3/6 domino in the sum 9 over 4 cells region. Next, place the 0/6 domino in the sum 9 over 2 cells region. After that, place the 1/1 domino in the less 3 over 1 cell region. Finally, place the 2/2 domino in the empty over 1 cell region.
Medium board · 7 dominoes
Medium walkthrough
Place the 0/0 domino in the equals over 3 cells region. Then, place the 4/4 domino in the equals over 2 cells region. Next, place the 5/6 domino in the greater 5 over 1 cell region. After that, place the 1/6 domino in the sum 9 over 3 cells region. Then, place the 5/4 domino in the sum 9 over 2 cells region. Place the 0/3 domino in the less 3 over 3 cells region. Finally, place the 6/6 domino in the remaining region.
Hard board · 16 dominoes
Hard walkthrough
Begin by placing the 0/3 domino in the sum 0 over 1 cell region. Then, place the 0/5 domino in another sum 0 over 1 cell region. Next, place the 1/1 domino in the equals over 2 cells region. After that, place the 2/2 domino in the less 5 over 2 cells region. Continue by placing the 3/4 domino in the greater 7 over 2 cells region. Then, place the 4/0 domino in the greater 6 over 2 cells region. Place the 4/1 domino in the greater 8 over 2 cells region. Next, place the 5/5 domino in the equals over 3 cells region. After that, place the 5/6 domino in the greater 7 over 2 cells region. Continue with the 3/5 domino in the less 4 over 2 cells region. Then, place the 2/3 domino in the less 4 over 1 cell region. Place the 1/5 domino in the empty over 1 cell region. Next, place the 1/6 domino in the greater 1 over 1 cell region. After that, place the 2/4 domino in the sum 6 over 2 cells region. Finally, place the 3/1 domino in the sum 3 over 3 cells region and the remaining dominoes in their respective regions.
Today's boards by the numbers
Constructed by Ian Livengood, Ian Livengood, Rodolfo Kurchan, edited by Ian Livengood.
- Date
- Thursday, November 12, 2026
- Boards
- 3 — easy, medium, hard
- Dominoes in play
- 28 across the three boards
- Regions in play
- 31
The last board we archived
The newest archived page is Pips answers for Wednesday, November 11, 2026, created once its date stopped being current everywhere on Earth.
More puzzles today
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Today's NYT Wordle hints and answer
Letter shape, vowels and meaning, with the answer kept last.
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Today's NYT Spelling Bee hints, pangram and answers
Counts by first letter and two-letter start, then every word.
How Pips works, in short
Each domino covers two adjacent cells, one pip count per half. Every domino must be placed and no cell covered twice. Work the tightest region first. Our full Pips guide covers the constraint types.
NYT Pips questions we get asked
When does a new NYT Pips puzzle appear?
Three boards a day, rolling over at midnight in your own time zone.
How do the Pips region rules work?
One rule per region: an exact total, a threshold, all-equal or all-different pips, or uncovered.
What is on the Pips boards for November 12?
Easy: 5 dominoes, 5 regions. Hard: 16 dominoes, 20 regions. Every domino has to be placed.
Why does this page not show the Pips board?
The public data lists each region's cells but not the grid they sit on, so any board we drew would be a guess.
How hard is the Pips hard board today?
This board is the most challenging due to the large number of dominoes and complex constraints.
Is TodayHint affiliated with The New York Times?
No — TodayHint is independent. Strands, Connections, Pips and NYT are trademarks of The New York Times Company. Board data is reported as fact; the hints around it are written for this site.