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NYT Pips Answers for September 16, 2025

NYT Pips answers for September 16, 2025, a Tuesday: hints first, then the full solution for the easy, medium and hard boards. Take the hints in order and stop when you have enough — nothing below is revealed until you open it.

Today's set runs from a 12-square easy board to an 18-square hard one, a gap of 6 squares, with the hard board carrying 1 double against easy's 2 and 4 loose regions against 4. Constructed by Ian Livengood.

Sukie, Puzzle editor at EnergyPips

By Sukie · Puzzle editor

Easy — 12 squares, 6 dominoes

Two or more regions carry no rule at all today, which sounds generous and is not: unconstrained squares give you nothing to reason from, so the 2 sum regions have to carry the whole board.

At 12 squares this is 21% larger than the average easy board, which runs 9.9. More squares means more placements to keep straight at once, and a mistake made early sits underneath more correct-looking work before you find it.

57% of its regions are loose against a norm of 40%, so this board is vaguer than usual — there is less exact arithmetic to anchor on and more reasoning by elimination.

Hint 1 — where to start

Start with the = 11 region — the middle right column of 2 — where the pips in this region must add up to exactly 11. Work there first because exactly one combination of values can fill it, so it is fully forced before you place anything.

Hint 2 — what your tray forces

The tray carries 2 doubles: 4-4, 1-1. A double is the only tile that fits wholly inside an all-equal region, and there is one here.

Hint 3 — the opening region's values

The = 11 region resolves to 5, 6. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — easy board, September 16, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
no rulethe top left single square6
=the top centre 4-square block1, 1, 1, 1
no rulethe middle left single square4
no rulethe middle left single square4
= 11the middle right column of 25, 6
no rulethe bottom left single square4
= 4the bottom centre row of 22, 2

Every tile and the squares it covers

  • 4-2 → row 4 col 1 and row 4 col 2
  • 6-1 → row 1 col 1 and row 1 col 2
  • 4-4 → row 2 col 1 and row 3 col 1
  • 1-1 → row 1 col 3 and row 1 col 4
  • 1-5 → row 2 col 4 and row 3 col 4
  • 2-6 → row 4 col 3 and row 4 col 4

Rows and columns are counted from the top-left of the board, starting at 1.

Medium — 14 squares, 7 dominoes

Two or more regions carry no rule at all today, which sounds generous and is not: unconstrained squares give you nothing to reason from, so the 1 sum region have to carry the whole board.

At 14 squares this is a typical medium board — the average is 14.8 — so nothing about its size explains an unusually long or short solve.

33% of its regions are loose against a norm of 42%, so this board is tighter than usual — more regions hand you a number outright, which is why it may have felt unusually tractable.

Hint 1 — where to start

Start with the = 4 region — the top centre 3-square block — where the pips in this region must add up to exactly 4. Work there first because it is the most constrained region on the board, with 4 possible fillings.

Hint 2 — what your tray forces

The tray carries 2 doubles: 6-6, 2-2. A double is the only tile that fits wholly inside an all-equal region, and there are 3 here.

Hint 3 — the opening region's values

The = 4 region resolves to 0, 2, 2. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — medium board, September 16, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
= 4the top centre 3-square block2, 2, 0
=the middle left 3-square block6, 6, 6
=the middle centre 3-square block5, 5, 5
=the middle left row of 33, 3, 3
no rulethe bottom left single square4
no rulethe bottom right single square2

Every tile and the squares it covers

  • 6-6 → row 2 col 1 and row 2 col 2
  • 6-3 → row 3 col 2 and row 4 col 2
  • 2-2 → row 1 col 3 and row 2 col 3
  • 0-5 → row 2 col 4 and row 3 col 4
  • 2-5 → row 5 col 4 and row 4 col 4
  • 3-4 → row 4 col 1 and row 5 col 1
  • 5-3 → row 3 col 3 and row 4 col 3

Rows and columns are counted from the top-left of the board, starting at 1.

Hard — 18 squares, 9 dominoes

Two or more regions carry no rule at all today, which sounds generous and is not: unconstrained squares give you nothing to reason from, so the 2 sum regions have to carry the whole board.

At 18 squares this is 31% smaller than the average hard board, which runs 26.1. A smaller grid is more forgiving: a bad tile is fewer undos away from being fixed.

50% of its regions are loose against a norm of 29%, so this board is vaguer than usual — there is less exact arithmetic to anchor on and more reasoning by elimination.

The tray holds 1 double against a typical 3.11. Doubles are the most constrained tiles you can be dealt, so you get fewer of the free constraints doubles normally provide, and have to find your footholds elsewhere.

Hint 1 — where to start

Start with the = 10 region — the middle right column of 2 — where the pips in this region must add up to exactly 10. Work there first because only 2 combinations of values can fill it.

Hint 2 — what your tray forces

The tray carries 1 double: 5-5. A double is the only tile that fits wholly inside an all-equal region, and there are 2 here.

Hint 3 — the opening region's values

The = 10 region resolves to 5, 5. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — hard board, September 16, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
=the top left column of 36, 6, 6
= 4the top centre column of 41, 2, 1, 0
no rulethe top centre single square3
=the middle centre column of 52, 2, 2, 2, 2
no rulethe middle right single square5
no rulethe middle left single square3
= 10the middle right column of 25, 5
> 3the bottom right single square4

Every tile and the squares it covers

  • 2-0 → row 4 col 3 and row 4 col 2
  • 1-6 → row 1 col 2 and row 1 col 1
  • 3-2 → row 1 col 3 and row 2 col 3
  • 2-4 → row 6 col 3 and row 6 col 4
  • 2-1 → row 3 col 3 and row 3 col 2
  • 6-3 → row 3 col 1 and row 4 col 1
  • 6-2 → row 2 col 1 and row 2 col 2
  • 5-5 → row 3 col 4 and row 4 col 4
  • 2-5 → row 5 col 3 and row 5 col 4

Rows and columns are counted from the top-left of the board, starting at 1.

Questions about this day

What is the answer to NYT Pips on September 16, 2025?
The full solution for all three boards is on this page, below the hints. Two or more regions carry no rule at all today, which sounds generous and is not: unconstrained squares give you nothing to reason from, so the 2 sum regions have to carry the whole board.
Can I see a hint without seeing the whole answer?
Yes. Each difficulty has three hints in order — where to start, what your tray forces, then the values in the opening region — each behind its own disclosure, with the full solution last. Nothing is revealed until you open it.
Are these the official New York Times boards?
The puzzle data is the Times’ own, and this page reports and explains the solution. EnergyPips is not affiliated with The New York Times, and the boards are not reproduced here to play — to play, go to the Times. To play a free daily domino puzzle of our own, the rest of this site is that.
Why is the hard board harder than the easy one?
On September 16, 2025 the hard board runs 18 squares across 8 regions against the easy board’s 12 and 7, and carries 4 regions that give you no exact number to work from.

About these answers

EnergyPips is an independent site and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to The New York Times. This page reports and explains the solution to a published puzzle, constructed by Ian Livengood — the board itself is not reproduced here to play. To play it, go to the Times. To play a free daily domino puzzle of our own making, with a full archive, start here.

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