April 22, 2026 NYT Pips Hints and Answers — Easy, Medium, and Hard Solutions

NYT Pips is the New York Times’ domino-inspired daily puzzle, released in August 2025. It challenges you to place tiles across a grid while satisfying color-coded conditions, and unlike traditional dominoes, matching pip values isn’t always required. If you’re stuck on today’s puzzle, this guide breaks down every zone and answer for Easy, Medium, and Hard across April 22, 2026.

What Is NYT Pips?

Pips takes the familiar format of domino tiles and transforms it into a single-player logic puzzle. Each puzzle presents a grid of color-coded spaces, and your job is to place domino tiles, either vertically or horizontally, so that the pips in each colored zone satisfy a specific condition. A tile can straddle two zones, meaning only one half may count toward a given condition.

The five condition types you’ll encounter are:

Number: All pips in this space must add up to the given number.
Equal: Every domino half in this space must show the same number of pips.
Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must show a different number of pips.
Less Than: Every domino half in this space must total less than the given number.
Greater Than: Every domino half in this space must total more than the given number.

Spaces with no color coding have no restrictions. If you’re completely stuck, the game lets you reveal the whole puzzle, but that skips the satisfaction of solving it yourself. That’s where these hints come in.

Easy Difficulty Hints and Answers — April 22, 2026 Pips

The Easy grid introduces the core condition types with straightforward placement.

Purple — Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must exceed 3. Place 4-5 vertically.

Red — Number (20): All pips in this space must total 20. Place 5-3 vertically, 1-5 vertically, 4-5 vertically, and 5-2 horizontally.

Light Blue — Equal (2): Every domino half here must show exactly 2 pips. Place 2-1 horizontally and 5-2 horizontally.

Yellow — Number (1): The domino half in this space must show 1 pip. Place 2-1 horizontally.

Dark Blue — Greater Than (2): The domino half here must exceed 2. Place 5-3 vertically.

Medium Difficulty Hints and Answers — April 22, 2026 Pips

Medium introduces more zones and a greater overlap between tiles and conditions.

Purple — Equal (4): Every half here must show 4 pips. Place 4-4 horizontally.

Red — Equal (0): Every half must show 0 pips. Place 0-2 vertically and 0-4 vertically.

Light Blue — Less Than (3): The domino half here must be under 3. Place 1-2 horizontally.

Yellow — Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. Place 1-2 horizontally and 0-2 vertically.

Dark Blue — Equal (4): Every half must show 4 pips. Place 0-4 vertically and 1-4 horizontally.

Green — Greater Than (4): The half here must exceed 4. Place 5-3 horizontally.

Purple (second zone) — Number (4): Everything here must total 4. Place 5-3 horizontally and 1-4 horizontally.

Hard Difficulty Hints and Answers — April 22, 2026 Pips

The Hard puzzle significantly expands the grid, with more zones and more tiles sharing space across multiple conditions.

Purple — Equal (1): Every half must show 1 pip. Place 1-0 vertically and 1-6 horizontally.

Red — Equal (6): Every half must show 6 pips. Place 1-6 horizontally, 6-4 vertically, and 6-0 horizontally.

Light Blue — Equal (0): Every half must show 0 pips. Place 1-0 vertically and 0-2 horizontally.

Yellow — Less Than (2): Everything here must total less than 2. Place 6-0 horizontally and 0-3 vertically.

Dark Blue — Equal (4): Every half must show 4 pips. Place 6-4 vertically and 4-3 horizontally.

Green — Greater Than (2): The half here must exceed 2. Place 3-2 horizontally.

Purple (second zone) — Equal (2): Every half must show 2 pips. Place 3-2 horizontally and 2-2 vertically.

Red (second zone) — Greater Than (2): The half here must exceed 2. Place 4-3 horizontally.

Light Blue (second zone) — Equal (3): Every half must show 3 pips. Place 0-3 vertically and 3-5 horizontally.

Yellow (second zone) — Greater Than (2): The half here must exceed 2. Place 3-5 horizontally.

Tips for Solving NYT Pips

Start with the most restrictive zones. Equal conditions that demand a specific pip count, like Equal (0) or Equal (6), narrow down your tile options quickly. Lock those in first and build outward.

Track tiles that span two zones. When a domino straddles two colored spaces, each half must independently satisfy its respective condition. Always verify both ends before placing.

Work Hard from the edges inward. On the Hard grid, tiles near the border often have fewer placement options. Placing those first reduces the chance of a cascade of incorrect moves in the center.

More Daily Puzzle Help

Looking for hints on other NYT games today? Check out these recent guides:

If you want to revisit recent Pips puzzles, here are the three most recent guides:

Shahid Maqsood

Shahid Maqsood is a digital entrepreneur and SEO specialist focused on building engaging web experiences. He is the creator of DotWordle, combining creativity with smart, user-friendly design.