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Pips October 18, 2026 answer — October 18, 2026

Sunday, Oct 18, 2026

The Pips October 18, 2026 answer for October 18, 2026, with the full solution and how it fits together. Looking for the current puzzle? See nyt pips answers today.

Sukie
Written by Sukie
Published

Sunday, October 18, 2026 · edited by Ian Livengood

Easy 5 · Medium 7 · Hard 15 dominoes. The hard board has 16 regions and 2 doubles.

Cells are written row then column from the top-left (R1C1). Each domino is read in the Times’ own orientation: its first number on the first cell listed.

Easy Pips answer (5 dominoes · by Ian Livengood)

Easy Pips for October 18, 2026, solved5>359

Where each domino goes

  1. 6–1: 6 on R3C3, 1 on R2C3
  2. 4–3: 4 on R4C4, 3 on R4C3
  3. 1–5: 1 on R2C2, 5 on R2C1
  4. 1–1: 1 on R3C1, 1 on R3C2
  5. 4–1: 4 on R1C4, 1 on R1C3

Every region, checked

  • R1C3, R2C2, R2C3, R3C1, R3C2 (must total 5): 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 5
  • R1C4 (must total more than 3): 4
  • R2C1 (must total 5): 5
  • R3C3, R4C3 (must total 9): 6 + 3 = 9

Medium Pips answer (7 dominoes · by Rodolfo Kurchan)

Medium Pips for October 18, 2026, solved>74≠=<210<5

Where each domino goes

  1. 6–3: 6 on R4C2, 3 on R3C2
  2. 4–2: 4 on R3C5, 2 on R3C4
  3. 6–4: 6 on R2C6, 4 on R3C6
  4. 5–3: 5 on R1C1, 3 on R2C1
  5. 2–1: 2 on R2C4, 1 on R2C5
  6. 4–4: 4 on R1C2, 4 on R2C2
  7. 2–5: 2 on R3C3, 5 on R2C3

Every region, checked

  • R1C1, R2C1 (must total more than 7): 5 + 3 = 8
  • R1C2 (must total 4): 4
  • R2C2, R2C3, R3C2, R4C2 (all different numbers): 4 + 5 + 3 + 6
  • R2C4, R3C3, R3C4 (all the same number): 2 + 2 + 2
  • R2C5 (must total less than 2): 1
  • R2C6, R3C6 (must total 10): 6 + 4 = 10
  • R3C5 (must total less than 5): 4

Hard Pips answer (15 dominoes · by Rodolfo Kurchan)

Hard Pips for October 18, 2026, solved2=12<2=<9<5<2>45<739

Where each domino goes

  1. 6–3: 6 on R7C1, 3 on R7C2
  2. 3–2: 3 on R4C2, 2 on R4C1
  3. 6–2: 6 on R3C5, 2 on R3C6
  4. 1–3: 1 on R5C3, 3 on R6C3
  5. 2–0: 2 on R1C1, 0 on R1C2
  6. 0–3: 0 on R7C7, 3 on R6C7
  7. 1–4: 1 on R2C1, 4 on R3C1
  8. 2–4: 2 on R6C6, 4 on R7C6
  9. 3–4: 3 on R3C3, 4 on R2C3
  10. 4–6: 4 on R1C8, 6 on R2C8
  11. 6–6: 6 on R1C5, 6 on R2C5
  12. 5–3: 5 on R6C1, 3 on R5C1
  13. 2–5: 2 on R4C7, 5 on R5C7
  14. 2–2: 2 on R3C7, 2 on R3C8
  15. 2–1: 2 on R4C6, 1 on R5C6

Every region, checked

  • R1C1, R1C2 (must total 2): 2 + 0 = 2
  • R1C5, R2C5, R3C5 (all the same number): 6 + 6 + 6
  • R1C8, R2C8, R3C8 (must total 12): 4 + 6 + 2 = 12
  • R2C1 (must total less than 2): 1
  • R3C6, R3C7, R4C6, R4C7 (all the same number): 2 + 2 + 2 + 2
  • R4C1, R4C2, R5C1 (must total less than 9): 2 + 3 + 3 = 8
  • R5C3, R6C3 (must total less than 5): 1 + 3 = 4
  • R5C6 (must total less than 2): 1
  • R5C7 (must total more than 4): 5
  • R6C1 (must total 5): 5
  • R6C6, R7C6 (must total less than 7): 2 + 4 = 6
  • R6C7, R7C7 (must total 3): 3 + 0 = 3
  • R7C1, R7C2 (must total 9): 6 + 3 = 9
Count the tray before you start: if a value appears once, the region that needs it has only one candidate.
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