TodayHint

Pips August 10, 2026: Hints & Answers

Constructed by Ian Livengood, Rodolfo Kurchan, Rodolfo Kurchan, edited by Ian Livengood.

Recap

The NYT Pips puzzle for 2026-08-10 features three boards of increasing difficulty, each with unique constraints and challenges. The easy board has simple constraints, the medium board has mixed constraints, and the hard board has complex constraints. Solving each board requires a combination of logical reasoning and strategic thinking.

The three boards that day

The tray and each region's rule — board data, no solutions.

Easy board · 5 dominoes · 7 regions

3–35–30–01–54–0

  • one cell: under 2.
  • 3 ×one cell: left uncovered.
  • one cell: more than 2.
  • three cells: exactly 3.
  • two cells: all matching.

Easiest due to simple constraints

Medium board · 7 dominoes · 8 regions

1–11–50–11–64–14–62–4

  • one cell: more than 0.
  • two cells: more than 10.
  • two cells: exactly 3.
  • two cells: exactly 7.
  • one cell: left uncovered.
  • two cells: all matching.
  • one cell: more than 3.
  • three cells: exactly 9.

Moderate difficulty due to increased region count

Hard board · 12 dominoes · 16 regions

1–52–64–40–65–32–04–35–60–46–35–20–3

  • two cells: exactly 12.
  • two cells: exactly 4.
  • 2 ×one cell: more than 3.
  • two cells: exactly 9.
  • one cell: more than 2.
  • one cell: exactly 3.
  • 2 ×two cells: exactly 7.
  • 4 ×one cell: exactly 0.
  • two cells: exactly 6.
  • two cells: exactly 8.
  • two cells: exactly 10.

Hardest due to high domino and region count

Pips hints, one rung at a time

Six rungs, easy board first. The recap above already named the walkthroughs, so this ladder is here for anyone replaying the boards fresh rather than as a spoiler shield.

  1. How the three boards compared

    Sizes and constraint mixes, counted off the boards.

    Easy board
    5 dominoes, 7 regions (3 empty, 1 equals, 1 greater, 1 less, 1 sum)
    Medium board
    7 dominoes, 8 regions (3 greater, 3 sum, 1 empty, 1 equals)
    Hard board
    12 dominoes, 16 regions (13 sum, 3 greater)
    Back to the board inventories
  2. Easy board: how to approach it

    Method only.

    Start with regions that have unique solutions based on the given constraints

  3. Easy board: where to start

    One region named by its constraint.

    Solve the region with a sum constraint first

  4. Medium board: approach and first region

    The same two steps, one difficulty up.

    Focus on regions with specific value constraints to limit possibilities

    Begin with the region that has a greater 0 constraint

  5. Hard board: how to approach it

    Where the hard board differed in kind, not just size.

    Use the process of elimination to narrow down possible domino placements

  6. Hard board: where to start

    The last rung before the full walkthroughs.

    Solve the region with a sum 12 constraint first

    Open the full walkthroughs

Every Pips walkthrough from that day

All three walkthroughs, folded: each one places every domino on its board, one after another.

  • Easy board · 5 dominoes

    Easy board walkthrough

    Place the 3/3 domino in the sum 3 region, then the 5/3 domino in the greater 2 region, and continue with the remaining dominoes

  • Medium board · 7 dominoes

    Medium board walkthrough

    Place the 1/1 domino in the greater 0 region, then use the sum 3 and sum 7 regions to guide the placement of the remaining dominoes

  • Hard board · 12 dominoes

    Hard board walkthrough

    Place the 5/6 domino in the sum 12 region, then the 4/4 domino in the sum 4 region. Continue by using the greater 3 and sum 9 regions to guide the placement of the remaining dominoes. The 2/6 domino fits in the sum 9 region, and the 0/6 domino fits in the sum 0 region. The 5/3 domino fits in the sum 9 region, and the 2/0 domino fits in the sum 3 region. Finally, place the 4/3 domino in the sum 7 region, the 5/2 domino in the sum 7 region, and the 0/4 domino in the sum 0 region

Those boards by the numbers

Date
Monday, August 10, 2026
Boards
3 — easy, medium, hard
Dominoes in play
24 across the three boards
Easy board
5 dominoes · 7 regions
Medium board
7 dominoes · 8 regions
Hard board
12 dominoes · 16 regions

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