TodayHint

Pips August 8, 2026: Hints & Answers

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

Recap

The NYT Pips puzzle for 2026-08-08 features three boards with increasing difficulty, each requiring strategic analysis of region constraints and domino placements to solve. The easy board has 5 dominoes, the medium board has 7 dominoes, and the hard board has 16 dominoes, with various region constraints and conditions to navigate.

The three boards that day

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

Easy board · 5 dominoes · 6 regions

5–14–30–56–20–0

  • three cells: all matching.
  • 2 ×two cells: exactly 6.
  • one cell: left uncovered.
  • one cell: more than 5.
  • one cell: under 5.

Fewer dominoes and regions make this board easier

Medium board · 7 dominoes · 8 regions

0–00–11–31–52–22–66–6

  • two cells: all different.
  • two cells: all matching.
  • one cell: more than 3.
  • one cell: under 3.
  • two cells: more than 6.
  • three cells: exactly 6.
  • one cell: under 2.
  • two cells: exactly 6.

More dominoes and regions increase the difficulty

Hard board · 16 dominoes · 15 regions

0–10–20–40–61–62–22–32–42–52–63–33–44–65–55–66–6

  • 2 ×one cell: more than 3.
  • three cells: all matching.
  • two cells: exactly 0.
  • 2 ×one cell: exactly 3.
  • two cells: all matching.
  • 2 ×six cells: all matching.
  • one cell: exactly 4.
  • two cells: exactly 3.
  • 3 ×one cell: under 3.
  • three cells: exactly 11.

Many dominoes and complex region constraints make this board challenging

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, 6 regions (2 sum, 1 empty, 1 equals, 1 greater, 1 less)
    Medium board
    7 dominoes, 8 regions (2 greater, 2 less, 2 sum, 1 equals, 1 unequal)
    Hard board
    16 dominoes, 15 regions (6 sum, 4 equals, 3 less, 2 greater)
    Back to the board inventories
  2. Easy board: how to approach it

    Method only.

    Start by analyzing regions with unique constraints to limit possible domino placements

  3. Easy board: where to start

    One region named by its constraint.

    Region with equals condition over 3 cells is a good starting point

  4. Medium board: approach and first region

    The same two steps, one difficulty up.

    Focus on regions with overlapping conditions to narrow down possible domino placements

    Region with unequal condition over 2 cells can be solved first

  5. Hard board: how to approach it

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

    Begin by identifying regions with unique or restrictive conditions to limit possible domino placements

  6. Hard board: where to start

    The last rung before the full walkthroughs.

    Region with equals condition over 6 cells is a good starting point

    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 0/0 domino in the equals region, then use the sum 6 condition to place the 4/3 and 2/6 dominoes, and finally place the remaining dominoes based on the greater and less conditions

  • Medium board · 7 dominoes

    Medium board walkthrough

    Place the 0/1 domino in the unequal region, then use the equals and sum conditions to place the 1/3, 1/5, and 2/6 dominoes, and finally place the remaining dominoes based on the greater and less conditions

  • Hard board · 16 dominoes

    Hard board walkthrough

    Place the 0/0 domino in the equals region, then use the sum 0 condition to place the 0/1 and 0/6 dominoes, and the equals condition over 6 cells to place the 2/2, 3/3, 5/5, and 6/6 dominoes. Next, use the sum 3 and sum 11 conditions to place the 1/6, 2/3, 2/4, 2/5, 2/6, 3/4, 4/6, and 5/6 dominoes, and finally place the remaining dominoes based on the greater and less conditions. This will involve careful analysis of the regions and dominoes to ensure a correct solution

Those boards by the numbers

Date
Saturday, August 8, 2026
Boards
3 — easy, medium, hard
Dominoes in play
28 across the three boards
Easy board
5 dominoes · 6 regions
Medium board
7 dominoes · 8 regions
Hard board
16 dominoes · 15 regions

More Pips

See the live Pips hints and answers page for the current boards, or browse every archived Pips date by month.

Try the other two puzzles