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NYT Pips Answers for December 28, 2025

NYT Pips answers for December 28, 2025, a Sunday: 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 a 10-square easy board to a 24-square hard one, a gap of 14 squares, with the hard board carrying 3 doubles against easy's 1 and 5 loose regions against 0. Constructed by Ian Livengood.

Sukie, Puzzle editor at EnergyPips

By Sukie · Puzzle editor

Easy — 10 squares, 5 dominoes

A 10-square board across 6 regions, with 3 exact sums to anchor it and 0 looser regions to work around.

At 10 squares this is a typical easy board — the average is 9.9 — so nothing about its size explains an unusually long or short solve.

0% 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 centre 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: 2-2. 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 = 5 region resolves to 5. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — easy board, December 28, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
= 5the top centre single square5
=the top right column of 26, 6
=the middle centre 3-square block3, 3, 3
= 5the middle left single square5
=the bottom left row of 22, 2
= 4the bottom right single square4

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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.

57% of its regions are loose against a norm of 42%, so this board is vaguer than usual — there is less exact arithmetic to anchor on and more reasoning by elimination.

Its tightest sum target is 0, 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 = 0 region — the middle left single square — where the pips in this region must add up to exactly 0. 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. No double can sit wholly inside an all-different region, and there is one on this board — so start by working out where they cannot go.

Hint 3 — the opening region's values

The = 0 region resolves to 0. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — medium board, December 28, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
> 3the top centre single square6
no rulethe middle left single square1
≠the middle centre 4-square block1, 2, 3, 0
= 8the middle centre 4-square block2, 2, 2, 2
= 0the middle left single square0
no rulethe bottom left single square1
= 6the bottom centre row of 23, 3

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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 3 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.

45% 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.

Its tightest sum target is 15, against a median of 4 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 > 4 region — the top centre single square — where the pips in this region must add up to more than 4. 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, 4-4, 2-2. 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 > 4 region resolves to 5. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — hard board, December 28, 2025
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
= 15the top left 3-square block5, 4, 6
> 4the top centre single square5
=the top centre 3-square block1, 1, 1
= 15the middle left 3-square block6, 4, 5
=the middle left column of 30, 0, 0
no rulethe middle centre single square2
= 15the middle centre 3-square block5, 6, 4
no rulethe middle right single square2
no rulethe middle centre single square4
> 3the middle right single square4
=the middle left 4-square block2, 2, 2, 2

Every tile and the squares it covers

  • 2-0 → row 7 col 1 and row 6 col 1
  • 2-6 → row 5 col 4 and row 5 col 3
  • 0-4 → row 4 col 1 and row 3 col 1
  • 6-5 → row 2 col 1 and row 1 col 1
  • 5-2 → row 3 col 2 and row 4 col 2
  • 1-1 → row 1 col 4 and row 2 col 4
  • 4-5 → row 1 col 2 and row 1 col 3
  • 4-4 → row 6 col 3 and row 6 col 4
  • 0-5 → row 5 col 1 and row 5 col 2
  • 2-2 → row 8 col 1 and row 8 col 2
  • 4-2 → row 6 col 2 and row 7 col 2
  • 1-6 → row 2 col 3 and row 2 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 December 28, 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 3 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 December 28, 2025 the hard board runs 24 squares across 11 regions against the easy board’s 10 and 6, 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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