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Pips October 21, 2026 answer — October 21, 2026

Wednesday, Oct 21, 2026

The Pips October 21, 2026 answer for October 21, 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

Wednesday, October 21, 2026 · edited by Ian Livengood

Easy 5 · Medium 7 · Hard 16 dominoes. The hard board has 22 regions and 4 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 21, 2026, solved1010>45<1

Where each domino goes

  1. 3–6: 3 on R2C3, 6 on R2C2
  2. 2–4: 2 on R2C4, 4 on R2C5
  3. 1–0: 1 on R3C3, 0 on R3C4
  4. 6–6: 6 on R1C5, 6 on R1C6
  5. 4–0: 4 on R1C2, 0 on R1C1

Every region, checked

  • R1C2, R2C2 (must total 10): 4 + 6 = 10
  • R1C5, R2C5 (must total 10): 6 + 4 = 10
  • R1C6 (must total more than 4): 6
  • R2C3, R2C4 (must total 5): 3 + 2 = 5
  • R3C4 (must total less than 1): 0

Medium Pips answer (7 dominoes · by Rodolfo Kurchan)

Medium Pips for October 21, 2026, solved>4≠=>7>568

Where each domino goes

  1. 2–6: 2 on R3C3, 6 on R3C4
  2. 1–1: 1 on R1C4, 1 on R1C5
  3. 3–4: 3 on R3C1, 4 on R3C2
  4. 1–5: 1 on R2C2, 5 on R2C1
  5. 4–4: 4 on R4C3, 4 on R4C4
  6. 1–0: 1 on R2C4, 0 on R2C3
  7. 2–5: 2 on R1C3, 5 on R1C2

Every region, checked

  • R1C2 (must total more than 4): 5
  • R1C3, R2C3, R2C4 (all different numbers): 2 + 0 + 1
  • R1C4, R1C5 (all the same number): 1 + 1
  • R2C1, R3C1 (must total more than 7): 5 + 3 = 8
  • R3C2, R3C3 (must total more than 5): 4 + 2 = 6
  • R3C4 (must total 6): 6
  • R4C3, R4C4 (must total 8): 4 + 4 = 8

Hard Pips answer (16 dominoes · by Rodolfo Kurchan)

Hard Pips for October 21, 2026, solved<3>3=5>12<315=>053973≠3035

Where each domino goes

  1. 4–3: 4 on R4C9, 3 on R4C8
  2. 4–4: 4 on R1C6, 4 on R1C7
  3. 2–2: 2 on R1C1, 2 on R2C1
  4. 1–3: 1 on R5C6, 3 on R6C6
  5. 2–0: 2 on R2C2, 0 on R3C2
  6. 4–0: 4 on R3C4, 0 on R3C3
  7. 1–4: 1 on R2C4, 4 on R1C4
  8. 2–4: 2 on R4C7, 4 on R4C6
  9. 3–5: 3 on R3C9, 5 on R2C9
  10. 0–0: 0 on R5C4, 0 on R6C4
  11. 5–4: 5 on R3C6, 4 on R2C6
  12. 2–1: 2 on R6C1, 1 on R5C1
  13. 1–5: 1 on R5C9, 5 on R6C9
  14. 5–5: 5 on R3C1, 5 on R4C1
  15. 2–5: 2 on R1C9, 5 on R1C8
  16. 3–6: 3 on R4C3, 6 on R4C4

Every region, checked

  • R1C1 (must total less than 3): 2
  • R1C4 (must total more than 3): 4
  • R1C6, R1C7, R2C6 (all the same number): 4 + 4 + 4
  • R1C8 (must total 5): 5
  • R1C9 (must total more than 1): 2
  • R2C1 (must total 2): 2
  • R2C2, R3C2 (must total less than 3): 2 + 0 = 2
  • R2C4 (must total 1): 1
  • R2C9 (must total 5): 5
  • R3C1, R4C1 (all the same number): 5 + 5
  • R3C4 (must total more than 0): 4
  • R3C6 (must total 5): 5
  • R3C9 (must total 3): 3
  • R4C3, R4C4 (must total 9): 3 + 6 = 9
  • R4C6, R4C7, R5C6 (must total 7): 4 + 2 + 1 = 7
  • R4C8 (must total 3): 3
  • R4C9, R5C9 (all different numbers): 4 + 1
  • R5C1, R6C1 (must total 3): 1 + 2 = 3
  • R5C4, R6C4 (must total 0): 0 + 0 = 0
  • R6C6 (must total 3): 3
  • R6C9 (must total 5): 5
Count the tray before you start: if a value appears once, the region that needs it has only one candidate.
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