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NYT Pips Answers for November 15, 2025

NYT Pips answers for November 15, 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 3 doubles against easy's 1 and 1 loose region 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.

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.

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 bottom left 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: 3-3. 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 = 2 region resolves to 2. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — easy board, November 15, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
= 8the top centre column of 26, 2
no rulethe top right single square2
= 6the middle centre column of 23, 3
= 4the middle centre column of 23, 1
= 2the bottom left single square2

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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

Medium — 16 squares, 8 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 0 sum regions have to carry the whole board.

At 16 squares this is a typical medium board — the average is 14.8 — so nothing about its size explains an unusually long or short solve.

The tray holds 3 doubles against a typical 1.79. Doubles are the most constrained tiles you can be dealt, so this board hands you more forced placements than usual — an advantage, if you look for them first.

Hint 1 — where to start

Start with the = region — the middle centre row of 2 — where every pip value in this region must be the same. Work there first because it is the most constrained region on the board, with 7 possible fillings.

Hint 2 — what your tray forces

The tray carries 3 doubles: 5-5, 2-2, 6-6. 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 = region resolves to 4, 4. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — medium board, November 15, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
=the top left row of 36, 6, 6
no rulethe top centre single square3
no rulethe top right single square0
=the middle left 5-square block2, 2, 2, 2, 2
=the middle centre row of 24, 4
no rulethe middle left single square3
=the bottom centre row of 35, 5, 5

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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

Hard — 24 squares, 12 dominoes

3 doubles in a 12-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 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.

10% 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 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 top left 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, 6-6, 4-4. A double is the only tile that fits wholly inside an all-equal region, and there are 5 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 15, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
= 2the top left single square2
=the top centre column of 34, 4, 4
=the top centre 3-square block6, 6, 6
=the middle left column of 23, 3
= 10the middle centre column of 25, 5
= 4the middle centre 4-square block1, 1, 1, 1
=the middle right column of 34, 4, 4
=the middle left row of 22, 2
no rulethe middle centre single square3
= 0the middle centre 3-square block0, 0, 0

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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 15, 2025?
The full solution for all three boards is on this page, below the hints. 3 doubles in a 12-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 November 15, 2025 the hard board runs 24 squares across 10 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.

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