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NYT Pips Answers for November 4, 2025

NYT Pips answers for November 4, 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 an 8-square easy board to a 28-square hard one, a gap of 20 squares, with the hard board carrying 3 doubles against easy's 1 and 4 loose regions against 1. 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 3 exact sums to anchor it and 1 looser region 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.

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.

Hint 1 — where to start

Start with the = 5 region — the top 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

The tray carries 1 double: 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 = 5 region resolves to 5. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — easy board, November 4, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
=the top left 3-square block1, 1, 1
= 5the top centre column of 22, 3
= 5the top right single square5
no rulethe middle left single square4
= 5the bottom left single square5

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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 3 sum regions 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.

Hint 1 — where to start

Start with the = 3 region — the middle 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

The tray carries 1 double: 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 = 3 region resolves to 3. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — medium board, November 4, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
no rulethe top centre single square4
=the top centre 4-square block2, 2, 2, 2
= 3the middle left single square3
no rulethe middle centre single square4
= 6the middle right single square6
=the middle centre 3-square block5, 5, 5
no rulethe middle right single square1
= 6the bottom centre single square6
no rulethe bottom centre single square4

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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

Hard — 28 squares, 14 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 28 squares this is a typical hard board — the average is 26.1 — so nothing about its size explains an unusually long or short solve.

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 = 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 3 doubles: 0-0, 5-5, 6-6. 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 = 2 region resolves to 2. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — hard board, November 4, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
=the top centre row of 33, 3, 3
= 8the top right column of 24, 4
=the middle centre 5-square block5, 5, 5, 5, 5
= 2the middle centre row of 21, 1
no rulethe middle left single square4
= 2the middle centre single square2
=the middle centre 5-square block6, 6, 6, 6, 6
< 3the middle left single square2
= 0the middle centre 4-square block0, 0, 0, 0
= 2the middle centre row of 21, 1
no rulethe bottom centre single square4
no rulethe bottom centre single square4

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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 November 4, 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 November 4, 2025 the hard board runs 28 squares across 12 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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