Pips Hints for September 29, 2026: Nearly All Answers, Not Hints

Pips, the latest puzzle game from the New York Times, has a new set of hints for September 29, 2026 — and they are almost entirely answers, not hints. The game, released in August 2025, borrows the shape of dominoes but adds colored spaces with rules like “less than,” “equal,” and “greater than.” The hints page explains the rules, then hands out exact tile placements for each difficulty level.

How Pips Works

If you know dominoes, you know the basics. Tiles sit vertically or horizontally, and they connect like regular dominoes. But the colored spaces change the game. A “less than 2” space requires tiles that add up to 0 or 1, while an “equal 4” space demands every half tile show 4 pips.

Easy Level Answers

The easy hints start simple. A “less than 2” space takes 0-1, placed vertically. Another “less than 2” space wants 0-2, also vertical. A “less than 4” space gets 0-3, still vertical. An “equal 2” space asks for 0-2, placed vertically, and 2-5, placed horizontally. A “greater than 4” space calls for 2-5, placed horizontally.

Medium Level Answers

Medium steps up the numbers. An “equal 4” space takes 4-5, placed horizontally, and 4-4, placed horizontally. A “less than 7” space wants 4-5, placed horizontally, and 0-5, placed vertically. A “number 1” space asks for 1-2, placed horizontally. A “not equal” space takes 6-2, placed vertically. A “less than 12” space wants 0-5, placed vertically, and 3-3, placed vertically. A “greater than 8” space calls for 6-6, placed vertically.

Hard Level Answers

The hard hints are where things get dense. A “number 4” space takes 4-3, placed vertically. A “less than 1” space wants 2-0, placed vertically. A “number 3” space asks for 0-3, placed horizontally. An “equal 3” space takes 3-3, placed horizontally, 3-5, placed vertically, and 4-3, placed vertically. A “greater than 5” space wants 6-3, placed horizontally. A “greater than 1” space also wants 6-3, placed horizontally. A “greater than 3” space takes 4-1, placed vertically. An “equal 5” space wants 3-5, placed vertically, and 5-5, placed vertically. A “number 7” space in red takes 1-6, placed horizontally. A “number 3” space wants 3-2, placed vertically. A “number 4” space asks for 4-2, placed horizontally. A “number 9” space wants 1-1, placed vertically, 4-2, placed horizontally, and 5-2, placed vertically. A “number 2” space takes 5-2, placed vertically. An “equal 4” space wants 4-4, placed vertically.

What This Hints Page Actually Does

The page is a cheat sheet dressed as a hint guide. Instead of nudging you toward a solution, it tells you the solution outright. Every condition — less than, equal, greater than, number — comes with a specific tile combination and orientation. Players who want to solve the puzzle themselves might skip this page entirely, since the answers are visible from the first section.

The Pattern Across Levels

The easy levels use small numbers and simple conditions. The medium levels add larger targets and mixed conditions. The hard levels push the highest numbers and combine multiple rules in a single space. The pattern holds across all three difficulties: the hints explain the rule, then the answers follow.

Why This Works

Pips is a single-player game, and the NYT has made a habit of publishing hints for its puzzles. This page continues that practice by giving you the exact tiles for each space. That approach rewards players who want to see the solution quickly.

What Comes Next

The hints cover one day’s worth of puzzles. If you are stuck on a specific space, the answers above should show you the correct combination.

For anyone stuck on a Pips puzzle, the page delivers exactly what it promises: piecemeal answers that work as hints, though they read more like solutions.

Source material: “NYT Pips hints, answers for September 29, 2026,” Mashable.

dominoes · game answers · NYT Pips · puzzle hints · September 29