NYT Pips Hints January 2 2026: Solutions for Every Difficulty Level

Dominoes just got a serious makeover. If you're looking for your next daily obsession after Wordle, the New York Times' latest addition, Pips, is calling your name. Released in August 2025, this single-player logic puzzle puts a math-heavy spin on the classic game of dominoes. Currently, the game's only hint system is an 'all-or-nothing' reveal, which can ruin the fun of solving it yourself. That's why we've compiled these piecemeal hints for January 2, 2026, to help you get unstuck without giving everything away.

Mastering the NYT Pips Hints January 2 2026 Rules

The core of Pips lies in color-coded conditions. Unlike traditional dominoes, touching tiles don't need to match numbers; instead, they must satisfy the requirements of the space they occupy. Here’s what you need to keep in mind:

• Number: The sum of all pips in this space must match the given digit.
• Equal: Every domino half in this area must be identical.
• Not Equal: Every domino half must be a different value.
• Less Than/Greater Than: Sums must fall below or above the specified number.

Today's Solutions: Easy, Medium, and Hard

Easy Difficulty Hints

Starting with the Greater Than (5) section, you'll need the 6-5 tile placed vertically. For the Less Than (2) area, place a 1-0 vertically. The Number (0) challenge is solved by a vertical 0-5. In the Equal (5) zone, use a combination of vertical 6-5, vertical 0-5, and horizontal 5-2.

Medium Difficulty Hints

Things get trickier here. For Number (12), utilize a horizontal 0-6 and a vertical 6-2. The Equal (6) space requires a horizontal 6-6 alongside vertical 6-5 and 6-3 tiles.

Hard Difficulty Hints

The final boss of today's puzzles! In the Greater Than (9) area, place horizontal 4-5 and 3-5 tiles. For Equal (6), you'll need horizontal 6-3, 6-6, and 0-6. Finally, solve Number (10) using horizontal 5-5 and 0-1 tiles.