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NYT Pips Answers for September 20, 2025

NYT Pips answers for September 20, 2025, a Saturday: 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 an 8-square easy board to a 24-square hard one, a gap of 16 squares, with the hard board carrying 2 doubles against easy's 1 and 5 loose regions against 1. Constructed by Ian Livengood.

Sukie, Puzzle editor at EnergyPips

By Sukie · Puzzle editor

Easy — 8 squares, 4 dominoes

Almost every region here is an exact sum, which makes this an unusually arithmetic board: there is very little elimination to do and a great deal of adding up.

At 8 squares this is 19% smaller than the average easy board, which runs 9.9. A smaller grid is more forgiving: a bad tile is fewer undos away from being fixed.

25% of its regions are loose against a norm of 40%, so this board is tighter than usual — more regions hand you a number outright, which is why it may have felt unusually tractable.

Its tightest sum target is 10, against a median of 5 across every board published. A high target forces large values into a small space, which narrows the options just as sharply from the other direction.

Hint 1 — where to start

Start with the = 10 region — the top centre row 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. Neither all-equal nor all-different regions appear today, so the doubles are unusually free — place them last.

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 — easy board, September 20, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
= 10the top left 3-square block1, 3, 6
= 10the top centre row of 25, 5
no rulethe top centre single square4
= 10the top right column of 25, 5

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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

Medium — 12 squares, 6 dominoes

The = 1 region is the giveaway: a target that low forces blanks and ones, and almost nothing else fits.

At 12 squares this is 19% smaller than the average medium board, which runs 14.8. A smaller grid is more forgiving: a bad tile is fewer undos away from being fixed.

0% 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.

Its tightest sum target is 1, against a median of 5 across every board published. A target that low forces blanks and low values, and is usually the fastest way in.

Hint 1 — where to start

Start with the = 1 region — the top right single square — where the pips in this region must add up to exactly 1. 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: 1-1, 2-2. 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 = 1 region resolves to 1. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — medium board, September 20, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
= 4the top centre column of 30, 2, 2
=the top centre 3-square block1, 1, 1
= 1the top right single square1
= 1the middle left single square1
=the middle left column of 22, 2
= 7the middle centre row of 23, 4

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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

Hard — 24 squares, 12 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 6 sum regions have to carry the whole board.

At 24 squares this is a typical hard board — the average is 26.1 — so nothing about its size explains an unusually long or short solve.

42% 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 2 doubles 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.

Its tightest sum target is 0, against a median of 4 across every board published. A target that low forces blanks and low values, and is usually the fastest way in.

Hint 1 — where to start

Start with the = 1 region — the top centre single square — where the pips in this region must add up to exactly 1. 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: 1-1, 5-5. With 1 all-different and 1 all-equal region on the board, those doubles are barred from the former and are the only tiles that fit wholly inside the latter — which usually pins two of them before you make a real decision.

Hint 3 — the opening region's values

The = 1 region resolves to 1. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — hard board, September 20, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
= 1the top centre single square1
no rulethe top centre single square2
no rulethe middle centre single square2
= 12the middle centre column of 26, 6
= 9the middle centre row of 23, 6
≠the middle centre column of 20, 3
no rulethe middle right single square6
= 5the middle left row of 23, 2
= 0the middle centre 4-square block0, 0, 0, 0
=the middle centre 4-square block5, 5, 5, 5
no rulethe middle left single square1
= 3the bottom centre row of 31, 1, 1

Every tile and the squares it covers

  • 0-1 → row 6 col 3 and row 7 col 3
  • 0-2 → row 5 col 3 and row 5 col 2
  • 0-3 → row 5 col 4 and row 4 col 4
  • 0-5 → row 6 col 4 and row 6 col 5
  • 1-1 → row 7 col 4 and row 7 col 5
  • 5-5 → row 5 col 5 and row 5 col 6
  • 6-5 → row 4 col 7 and row 5 col 7
  • 6-3 → row 2 col 3 and row 2 col 4
  • 1-3 → row 6 col 1 and row 5 col 1
  • 6-2 → row 2 col 5 and row 1 col 5
  • 1-2 → row 1 col 2 and row 2 col 2
  • 0-6 → row 3 col 4 and row 3 col 3

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 20, 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 6 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 20, 2025 the hard board runs 24 squares across 12 regions against the easy board’s 8 and 4, and carries 5 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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