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NYT Pips answers — Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Pips #304 · Edited by Ian Livengood · Easy by Ian Livengood · Medium by Ian Livengood · Hard by Rodolfo Kurchan

Stuck on today's New York Times Pips? Below are three progressive hints for each difficulty, then the full solution as a tap-to-reveal board. Hints first — the answer only when you want it.

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Easy Pips answer — June 17, 2026

4×5 board · 6 dominoes · 6 regions · by Ian Livengood

6 dominoes, 6 regions, a 4×5 grid — that's the easy puzzle for June 17, 2026. You're working with 2 "all equal", 1 "less than", 1 "greater than", 2 free regions. The "=" region starting at row 1, column 1 has 3 cells that must all match — every 5 in the puzzle should come here.. After that, the "=" region starting at row 1, column 4 has 4 cells that must all match — every 3 in the puzzle should come here.. Rack check: 2 doubles, 1 six.

Hints

Hint 1 — where to start

The "=" region starting at row 1, column 1 has 3 cells that must all match — every 5 in the puzzle should come here.

Hint 2 — first domino

Place the 5–5 domino with its 5 at row 1, column 1 and its 5 at row 1, column 2.

Hint 3 — second domino

Next, the 3–4 goes at row 1, column 4 → row 1, column 5. From there the rest should fall into place.

Solution

Tap any cell to reveal its pips, or reveal the whole board. Region rules: = must all be the same number; >2 must add up to more than 2; <9 must add up to less than 9.

=
=
>2
<9
Solution as text
  1. 3–4 — 3 at row 1, column 4, 4 at row 1, column 5
  2. 2–4 — 2 at row 4, column 2, 4 at row 4, column 1
  3. 3–1 — 3 at row 4, column 4, 1 at row 4, column 5
  4. 5–6 — 5 at row 2, column 2, 6 at row 3, column 2
  5. 3–3 — 3 at row 2, column 4, 3 at row 3, column 4
  6. 5–5 — 5 at row 1, column 1, 5 at row 1, column 2

Medium Pips answer — June 17, 2026

5×6 board · 7 dominoes · 8 regions · by Ian Livengood

Medium today is a 5×6 board with 7 dominoes and 8 regions. Rules on the board: 3 sum regions, 3 "all equal", 1 "less than", 1 free region. The way in: the "<2" region at row 3, column 6 leaves almost no room: only 0s and a single 1 can go here.. After that, the "=" pair at row 1, column 2 needs two identical pips — a double, or matching halves from two dominoes.. Rack check: 2 doubles, 3 blank halves, 2 sixes.

Hints

Hint 1 — where to start

The "<2" region at row 3, column 6 leaves almost no room: only 0s and a single 1 can go here.

Hint 2 — first domino

Place the 0–5 domino with its 0 at row 3, column 6 and its 5 at row 4, column 6.

Hint 3 — second domino

Next, the 5–6 goes at row 1, column 1 → row 1, column 2. From there the rest should fall into place.

Solution

Tap any cell to reveal its pips, or reveal the whole board. Region rules: 9 must add up to 9; = must all be the same number; 4 must add up to 4; <2 must add up to less than 2.

9
=
=
4
<2
9
=
Solution as text
  1. 4–1 — 4 at row 4, column 5, 1 at row 4, column 4
  2. 5–6 — 5 at row 1, column 1, 6 at row 1, column 2
  3. 3–0 — 3 at row 3, column 4, 0 at row 3, column 3
  4. 4–4 — 4 at row 2, column 1, 4 at row 3, column 1
  5. 2–2 — 2 at row 5, column 5, 2 at row 5, column 6
  6. 0–5 — 0 at row 3, column 6, 5 at row 4, column 6
  7. 0–6 — 0 at row 2, column 3, 6 at row 2, column 2

Hard Pips answer — June 17, 2026

10×9 board · 14 dominoes · 16 regions · by Rodolfo Kurchan

The hard board runs 10 rows by 9 columns: 14 dominoes to place across 16 regions. The mix is 11 sum regions, 2 "all equal", 1 "less than", 2 "greater than". The single cell at row 1, column 1 is marked 6, so it can only hold a 6. After that, the single cell at row 4, column 4 is marked 4, so it can only hold a 4. Rack check: 3 doubles, 5 blank halves, 3 sixes.

Hints

Hint 1 — where to start

The single cell at row 1, column 1 is marked 6, so it can only hold a 6. Find the domino with a 6 that fits there.

Hint 2 — first domino

Place the 6–5 domino with its 6 at row 1, column 1 and its 5 at row 2, column 1.

Hint 3 — second domino

Next, the 4–2 goes at row 4, column 4 → row 5, column 4. From there the rest should fall into place.

Solution

Tap any cell to reveal its pips, or reveal the whole board. Region rules: 6 must add up to 6; = must all be the same number; <4 must add up to less than 4; >9 must add up to more than 9; >4 must add up to more than 4.

6
=
<4
>9
>4
7
4
2
6
6
6
6
0
=
6
6
Solution as text
  1. 2–1 — 2 at row 9, column 9, 1 at row 10, column 9
  2. 3–4 — 3 at row 7, column 7, 4 at row 6, column 7
  3. 5–2 — 5 at row 5, column 1, 2 at row 5, column 2
  4. 4–6 — 4 at row 5, column 5, 6 at row 5, column 6
  5. 0–0 — 0 at row 1, column 4, 0 at row 2, column 4
  6. 4–2 — 4 at row 4, column 4, 2 at row 5, column 4
  7. 0–5 — 0 at row 3, column 4, 5 at row 3, column 5
  8. 1–1 — 1 at row 6, column 8, 1 at row 6, column 9
  9. 6–2 — 6 at row 3, column 1, 2 at row 4, column 1
  10. 3–3 — 3 at row 8, column 7, 3 at row 9, column 7
  11. 6–5 — 6 at row 1, column 1, 5 at row 2, column 1
  12. 2–0 — 2 at row 8, column 9, 0 at row 7, column 9
  13. 5–3 — 5 at row 10, column 8, 3 at row 10, column 7
  14. 3–0 — 3 at row 1, column 6, 0 at row 1, column 5

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