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NYT Pips Answers for February 19, 2026

NYT Pips answers for February 19, 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 a 10-square easy board to a 26-square hard one, a gap of 16 squares, with the hard board carrying 3 doubles against easy's 2 and 6 loose regions against 0. Constructed by Ian Livengood.

Sukie, Puzzle editor at EnergyPips

By Sukie · Puzzle editor

Easy — 10 squares, 5 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 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 bottom 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 2 doubles: 6-6, 4-4. 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 = 5 region resolves to 5. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — easy board, February 19, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
= 10the top centre column of 26, 4
= 6the top centre row of 25, 1
= 7the middle right column of 26, 1
= 16the bottom left row of 36, 6, 4
= 5the bottom centre single square5

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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

Medium — 14 squares, 7 dominoes

The = 0 region is the giveaway: a target that low forces blanks and ones, and almost nothing else fits.

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.

14% of its regions are loose against a norm of 42%, 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 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 right 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: 0-0, 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 = 0 region resolves to 0. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — medium board, February 19, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
=the top centre column of 26, 6
= 1the top centre 4-square block1, 0, 0, 0
=the middle centre column of 25, 5
no rulethe middle centre single square1
= 0the middle right single square0
= 3the middle left single square3
= 5the bottom left row of 31, 1, 3

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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

Hard — 26 squares, 13 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 7 sum regions have to carry the whole board.

At 26 squares this is a typical hard board — the average is 26.1 — so nothing about its size explains an unusually long or short solve.

43% 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 1, 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 < 1 region — the top centre single square — where the pips in this region must add up to less than 1. 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: 2-2, 3-3, 1-1. With 1 all-different and 1 all-equal region on the board, those doubles are barred from the former and are the only tiles that fit wholly inside the latter — which usually pins two of them before you make a real decision.

Hint 3 — the opening region's values

The < 1 region resolves to 0. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — hard board, February 19, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
< 1the top centre single square0
= 8the top centre row of 34, 2, 2
no rulethe top centre single square3
= 9the top right column of 24, 5
< 3the middle centre single square2
= 10the middle centre column of 24, 6
= 2the middle right column of 21, 1
= 1the middle centre 3-square block1, 0, 0
= 4the middle right single square4
> 1the middle left single square2
≠the middle centre 4-square block2, 6, 3, 1
= 5the middle right single square5
=the bottom left row of 33, 3, 3
no rulethe bottom right single square1

Every tile and the squares it covers

  • 1-6 → row 5 col 3 and row 4 col 3
  • 4-0 → row 1 col 4 and row 1 col 3
  • 2-2 → row 1 col 5 and row 1 col 6
  • 3-3 → row 7 col 1 and row 7 col 2
  • 1-1 → row 7 col 7 and row 7 col 8
  • 0-2 → row 6 col 2 and row 6 col 1
  • 4-3 → row 1 col 8 and row 1 col 7
  • 1-5 → row 3 col 8 and row 2 col 8
  • 2-3 → row 6 col 6 and row 7 col 6
  • 4-1 → row 5 col 8 and row 4 col 8
  • 3-0 → row 7 col 3 and row 6 col 3
  • 6-5 → row 6 col 7 and row 6 col 8
  • 4-2 → row 3 col 3 and row 2 col 3

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 February 19, 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 7 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 February 19, 2026 the hard board runs 26 squares across 14 regions against the easy board’s 10 and 5, and carries 6 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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