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NYT Pips Answers for March 4, 2026

NYT Pips answers for March 4, 2026, a Wednesday: 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 28-square hard one, a gap of 18 squares, with the hard board carrying 2 doubles against easy's 1 and 5 loose regions against 2. 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 0 exact sums to anchor it and 2 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.

Hint 1 — where to start

Start with the > 5 region — the middle right single square — where the pips in this region must add up to more than 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: 5-5. 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 > 5 region resolves to 6. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — easy board, March 4, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
=the top centre row of 25, 5
no rulethe middle left single square1
> 5the middle right single square6
=the middle left column of 23, 3
=the middle right column of 25, 5
=the bottom centre row of 20, 0

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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

Medium — 14 squares, 7 dominoes

3 doubles in a 7-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 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.

25% 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.

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 = 7 region — the top centre row of 2 — where the pips in this region must add up to exactly 7. Work there first because only 3 combinations of values can fill it.

Hint 2 — what your tray forces

The tray carries 3 doubles: 4-4, 1-1, 3-3. 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 = 7 region resolves to 3, 4. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — medium board, March 4, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
=the top left row of 21, 1
= 7the top centre row of 23, 4
> 0the middle left single square2
= 8the middle right column of 24, 4
= 8the middle left row of 25, 3
no rulethe middle centre single square2
=the middle centre column of 20, 0
= 8the bottom centre row of 23, 5

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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

Hard — 28 squares, 14 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 6 sum regions have to carry the whole board.

At 28 squares this is a typical hard board — the average is 26.1 — so nothing about its size explains an unusually long or short solve.

38% 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.

Hint 1 — where to start

Start with the = 12 region — the middle centre column of 2 — where the pips in this region must add up to exactly 12. 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, 0-0. 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 = 12 region resolves to 6, 6. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — hard board, March 4, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
= 10the top centre row of 26, 4
no rulethe middle centre single square5
=the middle centre 5-square block0, 0, 0, 0, 0
< 5the middle right single square4
= 10the middle left row of 25, 5
= 3the middle centre column of 31, 1, 1
no rulethe middle left single square2
= 12the middle centre column of 26, 6
> 2the middle centre single square3
= 2the middle centre row of 21, 1
=the middle centre 5-square block2, 2, 2, 2, 2
= 10the middle centre column of 24, 6
no rulethe bottom centre single square3

Every tile and the squares it covers

  • 0-1 → row 4 col 7 and row 5 col 7
  • 1-5 → row 3 col 3 and row 3 col 2
  • 2-2 → row 6 col 5 and row 6 col 6
  • 2-5 → row 4 col 1 and row 3 col 1
  • 0-4 → row 2 col 8 and row 2 col 9
  • 2-6 → row 6 col 4 and row 5 col 4
  • 0-0 → row 3 col 7 and row 3 col 8
  • 6-4 → row 1 col 7 and row 1 col 8
  • 5-0 → row 2 col 6 and row 2 col 7
  • 3-6 → row 9 col 5 and row 9 col 4
  • 1-2 → row 5 col 3 and row 6 col 3
  • 2-4 → row 7 col 4 and row 8 col 4
  • 1-6 → row 4 col 3 and row 4 col 4
  • 3-1 → row 5 col 5 and row 5 col 6

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 March 4, 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 6 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 March 4, 2026 the hard board runs 28 squares across 13 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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