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NYT Pips Answers for August 22, 2026

NYT Pips answers for August 22, 2026, a Saturday: 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 30-square hard one, a gap of 20 squares, with the hard board carrying 3 doubles against easy's 1 and 1 loose region against 3. 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 3 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.

50% 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 top left 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: 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 2. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — easy board, August 22, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
< 3the top left single square2
=the top centre column of 26, 6
=the top centre row of 22, 2
=the middle centre row of 20, 0
> 6the middle centre row of 25, 3
no rulethe bottom right single square1

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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

Medium — 14 squares, 7 dominoes

75% of the regions on this board are loose — comparisons or unconstrained — so there is little to calculate from and most of the work is deciding where tiles cannot go.

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.

75% 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 middle centre row of 3 — 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 1 double: 4-4. 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 < 2 region resolves to 0, 0, 0. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — medium board, August 22, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
no rulethe top left single square4
< 4the top centre single square2
=the top centre row of 34, 4, 4
> 3the top right single square6
=the middle left row of 31, 1, 1
< 2the middle centre row of 30, 0, 0
< 4the bottom centre single square3
> 3the bottom centre single square4

Every tile and the squares it covers

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

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

Hard — 30 squares, 15 dominoes

3 doubles in a 15-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 30 squares this is 15% larger than the average hard board, which runs 26.1. 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.

7% 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.

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 = 12 region — the middle right 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 3 doubles: 1-1, 4-4, 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 = 12 region resolves to 6, 6. Which half of which domino supplies each is still yours to work out.

Full answer — hard board, August 22, 2026
How each region resolves.
RegionWhereValues
=the top left column of 25, 5
= 5the top centre row of 24, 1
= 16the top centre column of 36, 6, 4
= 2the middle left column of 20, 2
= 5the middle centre row of 23, 2
= 12the middle right column of 26, 6
= 2the middle centre column of 31, 1, 0
= 10the middle centre column of 24, 6
=the middle left 3-square block4, 4, 4
= 8the middle right column of 23, 5
no rulethe middle centre single square3
= 1the middle centre row of 20, 1
=the middle centre column of 22, 2
= 4the middle right column of 20, 4

Every tile and the squares it covers

  • 2-6 → row 3 col 7 and row 3 col 8
  • 0-4 → row 7 col 8 and row 8 col 8
  • 1-1 → row 4 col 4 and row 5 col 4
  • 3-4 → row 3 col 6 and row 4 col 6
  • 1-5 → row 6 col 7 and row 6 col 8
  • 6-0 → row 5 col 6 and row 6 col 6
  • 4-4 → row 6 col 1 and row 6 col 2
  • 1-6 → row 1 col 3 and row 1 col 4
  • 5-4 → row 1 col 1 and row 1 col 2
  • 3-6 → row 5 col 8 and row 4 col 8
  • 2-4 → row 4 col 1 and row 5 col 1
  • 3-0 → row 6 col 3 and row 6 col 4
  • 4-6 → row 3 col 4 and row 2 col 4
  • 0-5 → row 3 col 1 and row 2 col 1
  • 2-2 → row 7 col 3 and row 8 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 August 22, 2026?
The full solution for all three boards is on this page, below the hints. 3 doubles in a 15-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 August 22, 2026 the hard board runs 30 squares across 14 regions against the easy board’s 10 and 6, and carries 1 region 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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