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NYT Pips Answers for April 6, 2026

NYT Pips answers for April 6, 2026, a Monday: 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 2 loose regions against 1. 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 4 exact sums to anchor it and 1 looser region 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.

17% 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 centre 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 1 double: 3-3. A double is the only tile that fits wholly inside an all-equal region, and there is one 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, April 6, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
= 6the top left column of 20, 6
= 6the top centre single square6
= 5the middle centre column of 23, 2
no rulethe middle right single square0
=the middle left 3-square block3, 3, 3
= 6the bottom centre single square6

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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 0 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.

71% 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 < 2 region — the bottom centre single square — where the pips in this region must add up to less than 2. Work there first because only 2 combinations of values can fill it.

Hint 2 — what your tray forces

The tray carries 2 doubles: 3-3, 6-6. With 1 all-different and 2 all-equal regions 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 < 2 region resolves to 0. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — medium board, April 6, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
≠the top left column of 30, 5, 2
=the top centre 5-square block6, 6, 6, 6, 6
no rulethe top centre single square3
no rulethe top right single square3
=the middle centre column of 24, 4
< 2the bottom centre single square0
< 4the bottom centre single square2

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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

Hard — 24 squares, 12 dominoes

3 doubles in a 12-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 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.

17% of its regions are loose against a norm of 29%, 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 = 3 region — the top centre single square — where the pips in this region must add up to exactly 3. 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: 4-4, 0-0, 6-6. 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 = 3 region resolves to 3. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — hard board, April 6, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
= 3the top centre single square3
=the top centre 3-square block2, 2, 2
= 6the top right column of 25, 1
no rulethe middle left single square6
= 7the middle centre row of 26, 1
=the middle centre column of 30, 0, 0
= 6the middle centre single square6
= 11the middle left column of 25, 6
= 7the middle centre column of 24, 3
=the middle centre 4-square block4, 4, 4, 4
=the middle right column of 20, 0
< 6the bottom centre single square0

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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 April 6, 2026?
The full solution for all three boards is on this page, below the hints. 3 doubles in a 12-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.
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 April 6, 2026 the hard board runs 24 squares across 12 regions against the easy board’s 10 and 6, and carries 2 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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