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NYT Pips Answers for September 25, 2025

NYT Pips answers for September 25, 2025, a Thursday: 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 20-square hard one, a gap of 12 squares, with the hard board carrying 3 doubles against easy's 0 and 4 loose regions against 2. Constructed by Ian Livengood.

Sukie, Puzzle editor at EnergyPips

By Sukie · Puzzle editor

Easy — 8 squares, 4 dominoes

A 8-square board across 5 regions, with 2 exact sums to anchor it and 2 looser regions to work around.

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.

The tray holds 0 doubles against a typical 1.33. 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 = 5 region — the middle right single square — where the pips in this region must add up to exactly 5. 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

Your tray holds no doubles today, which removes the usual shortcut — nothing is barred from the all-different regions on shape alone. Total pips in the tray: 22.

Hint 3 — the opening region's values

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

Full answer — easy board, September 25, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
no rulethe top left single square2
= 10the middle left column of 33, 4, 3
> 2the middle right single square3
= 5the middle right single square5
=the bottom left row of 21, 1

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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

Medium — 20 squares, 10 dominoes

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

At 20 squares this is 35% larger than the average medium board, which runs 14.8. 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.

11% 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 bottom left 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: 0-0, 3-3. 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 = 1 region resolves to 1. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — medium board, September 25, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
=the top centre 3-square block0, 0, 0
=the top centre 5-square block3, 3, 3, 3, 3
= 3the middle centre column of 22, 1
= 1the middle left column of 21, 0
= 11the middle right column of 25, 6
no rulethe middle centre single square4
= 1the bottom left single square1
= 10the bottom centre row of 25, 5
=the bottom centre row of 22, 2

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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

Hard — 20 squares, 10 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 5 sum regions have to carry the whole board.

At 20 squares this is 23% 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.

40% 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.

Hint 1 — where to start

Start with the = 10 region — the top 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 3 doubles: 1-1, 6-6, 0-0. 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 = 10 region resolves to 5, 5. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — hard board, September 25, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
> 1the top left single square2
=the top left 5-square block3, 3, 3, 3, 3
no rulethe top centre single square0
= 10the top right column of 25, 5
no rulethe middle left single square0
= 8the middle left column of 26, 2
= 2the middle centre column of 21, 1
= 7the middle centre row of 21, 6
no rulethe bottom left row of 20, 0
= 6the bottom centre row of 20, 6

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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 25, 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 5 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 25, 2025 the hard board runs 20 squares across 10 regions against the easy board’s 8 and 5, 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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