Skip to content
Pips

NYT Pips Answers for October 27, 2025

NYT Pips answers for October 27, 2025, a Monday: 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 22-square hard one, a gap of 14 squares, with the hard board carrying 3 doubles against easy's 0 and 1 loose region against 1. Constructed by Ian Livengood.

Sukie, Puzzle editor at EnergyPips

By Sukie · Puzzle editor

Easy — 8 squares, 4 dominoes

The = 2 region is the giveaway: a target that low forces blanks and ones, and almost nothing else fits.

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.

20% 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.

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.

Its tightest sum target is 2, 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 = 3 region — the top left single square — where the pips in this region must add up to exactly 3. 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: 18.

Hint 3 — the opening region's values

The = 3 region resolves to 3. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — easy board, October 27, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
= 3the top left single square3
= 3the middle left column of 31, 2, 0
no rulethe middle centre single square4
= 2the middle right single square2
=the bottom centre row of 23, 3

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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

Medium — 14 squares, 7 dominoes

The = 2 region is the giveaway: a target that low forces blanks and ones, and almost nothing else fits.

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.

13% 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 2, 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 = 2 region — the middle centre single square — where the pips in this region must add up to exactly 2. 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 1 double: 4-4. A double is the only tile that fits wholly inside an all-equal region, and there are 4 here.

Hint 3 — the opening region's values

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

Full answer — medium board, October 27, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
< 2the top centre single square1
=the top centre row of 23, 3
=the top right column of 24, 4
= 5the middle left column of 20, 5
=the middle centre column of 22, 2
= 9the middle centre row of 25, 4
= 2the middle centre single square2
=the bottom left row of 23, 3

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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

Hard — 22 squares, 11 dominoes

3 doubles in a 11-tile tray is a lot, and doubles are the most constrained tiles you can be dealt. Placing them first is not a preference today, it is the route through.

At 22 squares this is 16% 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.

11% of its regions are loose against a norm of 29%, 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 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 = 4 region — the middle left single square — where the pips in this region must add up to exactly 4. 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 3 doubles: 0-0, 1-1, 2-2. A double is the only tile that fits wholly inside an all-equal region, and there are 4 here.

Hint 3 — the opening region's values

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

Full answer — hard board, October 27, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
=the top left 4-square block1, 1, 1, 1
= 4the middle left single square4
=the middle centre column of 32, 2, 2
= 4the middle centre column of 22, 2
= 1the middle centre column of 20, 1
= 1the middle left column of 20, 1
=the middle centre 4-square block0, 0, 0, 0
> 5the middle right column of 23, 4
=the bottom left row of 23, 3

Every tile and the squares it covers

  • 0-0 → row 5 col 4 and row 6 col 4
  • 0-1 → row 3 col 5 and row 4 col 5
  • 0-2 → row 4 col 1 and row 4 col 2
  • 0-3 → row 5 col 5 and row 5 col 6
  • 0-4 → row 6 col 5 and row 6 col 6
  • 1-1 → row 1 col 1 and row 1 col 2
  • 1-2 → row 2 col 2 and row 3 col 2
  • 1-3 → row 5 col 1 and row 6 col 1
  • 1-4 → row 2 col 1 and row 3 col 1
  • 2-2 → row 3 col 4 and row 4 col 4
  • 2-3 → row 5 col 2 and row 6 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 October 27, 2025?
The full solution for all three boards is on this page, below the hints. 3 doubles in a 11-tile tray is a lot, and doubles are the most constrained tiles you can be dealt. Placing them first is not a preference today, it is the route through.
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 October 27, 2025 the hard board runs 22 squares across 9 regions against the easy board’s 8 and 5, and carries 1 region 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.

Keep reading

Or go back to today's pips puzzle.