Today’s NYT Pips answers and hints for January 14, 2026 (NYT Pips #149 Answers): Friends, if you are looking for a challenging new puzzle game like Wordle. Then you may play NYT’s new dominoes game, Pips. It is a fantastic and challenging puzzle game.
The NYT Pips game is a logic puzzle that combines elements of dominoes and Sudoku. It offers a fresh, single-player challenge to test your logical and mathematical thinking.
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Today’s NYT Pips Answers And Hints (January 2026): Why and How to Play a New Dominoes Game?
Here is a breakdown of why and how to play, along with hints for solving.
Why Play NYT Pips?
- A New Logic Challenge: Released in August 2025, Pips is the latest addition to the NYT Games lineup, offering a daily puzzle focused on numbers, logic, and pattern recognition, contrasting with word games like Wordle.
- Familiar but Unique: It uses dominoes, which are familiar, but applies a unique set of rules that transform it into a sophisticated logic puzzle.
- Daily Progression: Like other NYT games, it offers three new puzzles daily: Easy, Medium, and Hard, allowing you to improve your skills over time.
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How to Play NYT Pips
The goal is to place all the provided dominoes onto the grid so that the number of pips (dots) on each domino half satisfies the condition of the colored region it sits in.
1. The Game Board and Tiles
- You are given a set of dominoes (each with two halves, or “pips,” ranging from 0 to 6) and a grid.
- The grid is divided into color-coded regions (or spaces).
- To Play: You drag and drop the dominoes onto the board. Click on a domino to rotate it 90 degrees (vertical or horizontal) before placing it.
- No Traditional Matching: Unlike regular dominoes, tiles that touch each other do not need to have matching numbers.
2. The Color-Coded Conditions
The core of the game is satisfying the condition for each colored region. Crucially, only the domino half that physically lies within a colored region must meet that region’s rule. A single domino can span two different colored regions (or a colored and a blank region).
| Rule Symbol | Condition | What to Do |
| Number (e.g., 4 or 12) | Sum: The pips on all domino halves inside this region must add up to that specific number. | Place tiles that total the number exactly. |
| = (or Equal) | Equal: Every domino half inside this region must show the exact same number of pips. | Fill the region with all 2’s, all 5’s, etc. |
| ≠ (or Not Equal) | Not Equal: Every domino half inside this region must show a completely different number of pips than any other half in that same region. | Use a 3, a 0, a 6, etc., but no repeats. |
| > (or Greater Than) | Greater Than: Every domino half inside this region must have a number of pips greater than the number specified. | If it says >4, only place 5’s and 6’s. |
| < (or Less Than) | Less Than: Every domino half inside this region must have a number of pips less than the number specified. | If it says <3, only place 0’s, 1’s, and 2’s. |
| Blank/Empty | No Condition: The pips in this space have no restriction. | Use this space for a domino half that doesn’t fit a nearby condition. |
NYT Pips #149 Hints & Answers for January 14, 2026
Best Hints for Solving Daily Pips Puzzles
- Start with the Most Restrictive Regions: Look for regions that have only one or two possible domino-half combinations.
- Tiny Sums: Regions that must add up to a very small number (like Number (0) or Number (1)) often require 0’s or 1’s and are easy starting points.
- Large Sums: Regions that must add up to a large number (like Number (17) or Number (18)) almost always require high-value pips, such as 5’s and 6’s.
- Tight Equal Regions: An Equal (=) region that covers three or more squares will severely limit which number you can choose, as you need that number available on many domino halves.
- Use the Dominoes to Limit Possibilities:
- Find a domino that can only fit one condition. For example, if you have a 6-6 and a Number (12) region that takes up two squares, the 6-6 must go there.
- Placing one domino will reduce the available pieces, often forcing the placement of nearby tiles.
- Pay Attention to Connections:
- When you place a domino, consider the constraints its other half places on the adjacent region. For instance, if you place a 5 in a Less Than (<3) region, its other half (say, a 2) is now committed to the region it borders, potentially helping or hindering that area’s condition.
- Work Backwards (Especially on Harder Puzzles):
- Sometimes, working from a difficult region (like one in the middle of the board) and figuring out what domino-halves are required to satisfy its condition can open up possibilities in the surrounding regions.
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