NYT Word Puzzle Clues and Solutions for April 19, 2026

Welcome to your guide to Pips, a delightful addition to the New York Times catalog. Released in August 2025, Pips offers a refreshing twist on dominoes, presenting an engaging single-player experience that may just become a cherished part of your daily routine. When faced with a challenging puzzle, the game typically reveals the entire puzzle, encouraging you to move on to the next level. But don’t worry—here, you’ll find gentle hints to help you navigate through each difficulty level with ease.

How to play Pips

If you’ve enjoyed dominoes before, you’ll find playing Pips quite familiar. As mentioned in our previous hints for Pips, the tiles can be arranged either vertically or horizontally, connecting to one another. The primary distinction is the color-coded conditions that you need to accommodate. Unlike traditional dominoes, touching tiles don’t have to match.

The criteria you must fulfill are tied to the color-coded spaces. For instance, if a space indicates a single number, each side of a tile in that area must total that number. It’s common for only part of a tile to fit within a color-coded space.

Here are some examples you’ll likely encounter across varying difficulty levels:

• Number: All the pips in this space must sum to the indicated number.
• Equal: Each domino half in this area must showcase the same number of pips.
• Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must display different numbers of pips.
• Less than: Each domino half here must sum to less than the specified number.
• Greater than: Each domino half must add up to more than the given number.

If a section lacks color coding, it means there are no specific conditions for the domino portions in those spaces.

Easy difficulty hints for Pips

• Equal (0): Every half in this red space must have 0 pips. The answer is 6-0, placed horizontally; 0-2, placed vertically.
• Equal (3): Every half in this purple space must total 3 pips. The answer is 3-3, placed vertically.
• Number (1): The half in this light blue area must have 1 pip. The answer is 1-4, placed vertically.
• Equal (4): Every half in this yellow space must add up to 4 pips. The answer is 1-4, placed vertically; 2-4, placed horizontally.
• Equal (2): Every half in this dark blue space must total 2 pips. The answer is 0-2, placed vertically; 2-4, placed horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints for Pips

• Number (7): All pips in this purple space must add up to 7. The answer is 3-0, placed horizontally; 5-4, placed horizontally.
• Equal (0): Every half in this red area must have 0 pips. The answer is 3-0, placed horizontally; 0-5, placed vertically.
• Equal (5): Every half in this light blue section must have 5 pips. The answer is 5-4, placed horizontally; 5-1, placed horizontally.
• Less Than (7): Everything in this yellow area must sum to less than 7. The answer is 1-6, placed vertically; 0-5, placed vertically.
• Number (7): Everything in this dark blue space must add up to 7. The answer is 5-1, placed horizontally; 1-6, placed vertically.
• Equal (6): Every half in this green space must have 6 pips. The answer is 6-6, placed horizontally; 6-5, placed vertically.
• Greater Than (1): The half in this purple space must have more than 1 pip. The answer is 6-5, placed vertically.

Hard difficulty hints for Pips

• Number (2): All pips in this purple area must add up to 2. The answer is 1-0, placed horizontally; 1-2, placed vertically.
• Less Than (2): Everything in this red space must sum to less than 2. The answer is 1-0, placed horizontally; 0-2, placed horizontally; and 0-0, placed vertically.
• Number (5): Everything in this light blue space must add up to 5. The answer is 0-2, placed horizontally; 3-4, placed vertically.
• Number (5): Everything in this yellow space must total 5. The answer is 3-4, placed vertically; 1-6, placed vertically.
• Number (2): All pips in this dark blue area must add up to 2. The answer is 1-2, placed vertically; 0-6, placed vertically.
• Equal (3): Each half in this green space must display 3 pips. The answer is 3-3, placed vertically.
• Number (9): Everything in this purple space must add up to 9. The answer is 1-6, placed vertically; 3-6, placed vertically.
• Number (8): All pips in this red area must total 8. The answer is 6-4, placed vertically; 4-2, placed horizontally.
• Number (4): Everything in this light blue area must add up to 4. The answer is 4-2, placed horizontally; 2-6, placed horizontally.