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NYT Pips Answers for January 22, 2026

NYT Pips answers for January 22, 2026, 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 2 doubles against easy's 1 and 5 loose regions against 3. Constructed by Ian Livengood.

Sukie, Puzzle editor at EnergyPips

By Sukie · Puzzle editor

Easy — 8 squares, 4 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 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.

60% of its regions are loose against a norm of 40%, 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 < 3 region — the bottom right single square — where the pips in this region must add up to less than 3. Work there first because only 3 combinations of values can fill it.

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 are 2 here.

Hint 3 — the opening region's values

The < 3 region resolves to 2. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — easy board, January 22, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
=the top left row of 26, 6
no rulethe top right single square2
=the middle left row of 31, 1, 1
no rulethe bottom centre single square4
< 3the bottom right single square2

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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

Medium — 12 squares, 6 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 12 squares this is 19% smaller than the average medium board, which runs 14.8. A smaller grid is more forgiving: a bad tile is fewer undos away from being fixed.

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.

Hint 1 — where to start

Start with the > 3 region — the bottom right single square — where the pips in this region must add up to more than 3. Work there first because only 3 combinations of values can fill it.

Hint 2 — what your tray forces

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

Full answer — medium board, January 22, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
no rulethe top right single square6
=the middle right column of 20, 0
=the middle centre 3-square block1, 1, 1
=the middle left column of 32, 2, 2
no rulethe middle right single square3
no rulethe bottom centre single square6
> 3the bottom right single square6

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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 2 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.

50% 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.

The tray holds 2 doubles against a typical 3.11. 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 9, 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 right 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 2 doubles: 4-4, 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 > 4 region resolves to 5. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — hard board, January 22, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
no rulethe top left single square2
=the top centre row of 34, 4, 4
no rulethe top centre single square4
> 4the top right single square5
= 10the middle left column of 26, 4
=the middle centre row of 33, 3, 3
=the middle centre row of 25, 5
> 16the middle centre 3-square block6, 6, 6
< 2the bottom left row of 20, 0
= 9the bottom centre row of 23, 6

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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 January 22, 2026?
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 2 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 January 22, 2026 the hard board runs 20 squares across 10 regions against the easy board’s 8 and 5, 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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