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NYT Pips Answers for January 25, 2026

NYT Pips answers for January 25, 2026, 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 12-square easy board to a 24-square hard one, a gap of 12 squares, with the hard board carrying 6 doubles against easy's 2 and 3 loose regions against 1. Constructed by Ian Livengood.

Sukie, Puzzle editor at EnergyPips

By Sukie · Puzzle editor

Easy — 12 squares, 6 dominoes

A 12-square board across 8 regions, with 5 exact sums to anchor it and 1 looser region to work around.

At 12 squares this is 21% larger than the average easy board, which runs 9.9. More squares means more placements to keep straight at once, and a mistake made early sits underneath more correct-looking work before you find it.

13% 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 = 6 region — the top right single square — where the pips in this region must add up to exactly 6. 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: 2-2, 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 = 6 region resolves to 6. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — easy board, January 25, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
no rulethe top left single square1
= 3the top centre row of 21, 2
= 6the top right single square6
= 6the middle left single square6
= 5the middle left column of 25, 0
=the middle centre row of 22, 2
=the bottom centre row of 23, 3
= 6the bottom right single square6

Every tile and the squares it covers

  • 2-2 → row 3 col 3 and row 3 col 4
  • 5-6 → row 3 col 1 and row 2 col 1
  • 0-3 → row 4 col 1 and row 4 col 2
  • 6-2 → row 1 col 4 and row 1 col 3
  • 6-3 → row 4 col 4 and row 4 col 3
  • 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 — 12 squares, 6 dominoes

A 12-square board across 7 regions, with 4 exact sums to anchor it and 3 looser regions to work around.

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.

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 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 > 4 region resolves to 6. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — medium board, January 25, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
= 6the top centre column of 23, 3
> 4the top right single square6
= 6the middle centre column of 23, 3
= 6the middle centre column of 22, 4
= 6the middle left row of 25, 1
no rulethe bottom left single square3
< 3the bottom centre row of 20, 0

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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 0 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.

The tray holds 6 doubles against a typical 3.11. 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 6 doubles: 2-2, 1-1, 5-5, 3-3, 6-6, 0-0. A double is the only tile that fits wholly inside an all-equal region, and there are 6 here.

Hint 3 — the opening region's values

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

Full answer — hard board, January 25, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
=the top left 5-square block5, 5, 5, 5, 5
=the top centre 3-square block6, 6, 6
no rulethe middle left single square3
=the middle centre row of 22, 2
no rulethe middle centre single square4
=the middle left row of 43, 3, 3, 3
=the middle centre 4-square block0, 0, 0, 0
no rulethe bottom left single square4
=the bottom centre row of 31, 1, 1

Every tile and the squares it covers

  • 2-2 → row 2 col 2 and row 2 col 3
  • 1-1 → row 5 col 2 and row 5 col 3
  • 3-5 → row 2 col 1 and row 1 col 1
  • 0-1 → row 5 col 5 and row 5 col 4
  • 5-5 → row 1 col 2 and row 1 col 3
  • 3-3 → row 4 col 2 and row 4 col 3
  • 5-6 → row 1 col 4 and row 1 col 5
  • 4-3 → row 5 col 1 and row 4 col 1
  • 6-6 → row 1 col 6 and row 2 col 6
  • 0-0 → row 4 col 6 and row 5 col 6
  • 5-4 → row 2 col 4 and row 2 col 5
  • 0-3 → row 4 col 5 and row 4 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 25, 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 0 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 25, 2026 the hard board runs 24 squares across 9 regions against the easy board’s 12 and 8, and carries 3 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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