You have the hints, but you want to see the thinking behind them. That is what this nyt pips walkthrough is for. Below, we walk through the first few placements on each November 9, 2026 board, Easy, Medium and Hard, and explain why each domino goes where it goes: which zone condition it satisfies, what it does to the pip total, and what it unlocks next. We stop after the opening placements on purpose, and the finished boards are waiting on the homepage answer reveal.
One note first: a puzzle can have more than one valid solution, so these placements are one verified way through each board, not the only way. If your board looks different and every zone is satisfied, your board is right too.
How to Use This NYT Pips Walkthrough
Each board below follows the same pattern. First, find the strictest zone, the spot with the fewest dominoes that can satisfy it. Then place Hint 1, which is the anchor. Then place Hint 2, which builds on the anchor. After each placement we explain the why, so you can reuse the thinking on tomorrow's boards. Positions use the same language as the homepage hints: columns run left to right, rows run top to bottom.
Keep the pip totals beside you: Easy has 5 dominoes and 29 pips, Medium has 7 dominoes and 29 pips, and Hard has 15 dominoes and 83 pips. Counting placed pips against what is left is the fastest way to check your own work.
Easy Board: Your NYT Pips Walkthrough Starts Here
The Easy board is a kind first win. The board is small, with five dominoes, and the whole puzzle turns on one tight spot: the less-than-3 zone. Only low pips can live there, so it is where the solve starts.
Step 1, Hint 1: Place the 0-0 domino in column 2, rows 3 and 4, both halves on the less-than-3 region. Why here? Both halves are zero, and zero is under 3, so the domino satisfies the zone twice over. It also spends the double-zero in the one place that needs low pips most. This is the anchor. Everything else is built around it.
Step 2, Hint 2, first domino: Place the 3-0 domino in column 1, rows 2 and 3. Why next? It sits beside the anchor, brings another zero into the low end of the board, and the 3 half reaches into the neighboring zone.
Step 3, Hint 2, second domino: Place the 6-4 domino across row 1, columns 1 and 2. Why here? The top row needs big pips, and 6 and 4 answer that. That fills the top row and leaves the smaller dominoes for the tighter zones below. Count the pips: 0 plus 0, plus 3 plus 0, plus 6 plus 4, is 13 of 29, with two dominoes and 16 pips left.
Two dominoes and 16 pips are left, and the anchor and the top row have done the hard work, so the finish is about matching the last two dominoes to the zones they fit. If you get stuck, the finished Easy board is on the homepage: open today's NYT Pips hints and reveal the answer when you are ready.
Medium Board: The NYT Pips Walkthrough Continues
The Medium board has 7 dominoes and 29 pips, the same pip total as Easy spread across two more dominoes, so the zones do more of the work. The anchor here is a four cell equal zone, and the solve starts with the strictest spot.
Step 1, Hint 1: Place the 0-0 domino in column 1, rows 1 and 2, both halves on the equal region. Why here? An equal zone needs every pip in it to be the same number, and a double-zero gives you two matching halves at once. It sets the number for the whole zone. A good first move does not just fit, it tells you what comes next.
Step 2, Hint 2, first domino: Place the 0-5 domino across row 1, columns 2 and 3. Why next? The zero half sits in column 2, beside the anchor, keeping the low, equal side consistent, while the 5 half reaches across the top row. One domino, two jobs.
Step 3, Hint 2, second domino: Place the 0-3 domino across row 2, columns 2 and 3. Why here? It mirrors the move above it: the zero half lands in column 2, under the zero from the 0-5, and the 3 half fills the row below. Together they build a small block in the top right, and the column of zeros gives the rest of the puzzle a clear edge to work from. Count the pips: 0 plus 0, plus 0 plus 5, plus 0 plus 3, is 8 of 29, with four dominoes and 21 pips left.
Four dominoes remain, and each one has to answer the zones that are still open, including the equal zone you set with zeros. Our zone symbols guide explains what each mark on a colored zone asks for.
Hard Board: The NYT Pips Walkthrough Gets Serious
The Hard board is a different kind of puzzle: fifteen dominoes, seventeen zones, and 83 pips, and the November 9 board is rated Challenging, so take your time. The opening still follows the same rule, strictest zone first, but here the strict spots are exact numbers and low limits, and the first domino has to answer two of them at once.
Step 1, Hint 1: Place the 5-2 domino across row 3, columns 3 and 4, the 5 on a 5-point cell and the 2 on a less-than-3 cell. Why here? This one domino satisfies two strict conditions at once: the 5 half lands on a cell that needs 5 points, and the 2 half lands on a cell that must stay under 3. Neither half could be swapped, and it sits mid-board, dividing the puzzle into a top half and a bottom half.
Step 2, Hint 2, first domino: Place the 2-1 domino across row 6, columns 5 and 6. Why next? It anchors the bottom right corner, so the two anchors frame the board. A 2 and a 1 are small pips, and small pips belong where zones are tight, so this placement claims the corner before a bigger domino can crowd it.
Step 3, Hint 2, second domino: Place the 0-1 domino in column 6, rows 4 and 5. Why here? It stacks above the 2-1 domino and fills column 6 from row 4 down to row 6, settling the bottom right corner. Count the pips: 5 plus 2, plus 2 plus 1, plus 0 plus 1, is 11 of 83, with twelve dominoes and 72 pips left.
Twelve dominoes remain, and the right approach is to keep doing what the opening did: find the next strictest zone, place the domino that answers it, and count the pips as you go. The finished Hard board is on the homepage answer reveal, and our hard board strategy guide goes deeper on the habits that make fifteen domino boards manageable.
What to Do After the First Placements
The opening placements follow one rule: strictest zone first. The middle of a board is where you learn, and the best way to learn it is to play it. Go back to the real board, place the dominoes from this walkthrough, and pause. Look at the zones that are still open, find the strictest one left, and ask which domino in your tray answers it. That question, asked one zone at a time, is the whole game.
If a board beats you, do not clear it in frustration. Undo one domino and check the pip totals in the zones around it. Most stuck boards come down to a single early placement, and our common Pips mistakes guide names the six errors that cause it.
That is the full nyt pips walkthrough for November 9: three boards, three anchors, and the same thinking every time. Start strict, count the pips, and let each placement narrow the next one. When you are ready to see how the boards finish, open today's NYT Pips hints on the homepage and reveal the answers.