NYT Pips hints and answers, Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Start with the cell that must be greater than 4 at row 1, column 6. It has the fewest ways to be satisfied.

That cell is a 6. Only 3 dominoes have a 6: 6–6, 6–5, 3–6.

Place the 6–5 domino with the 6 at row 1, column 6 and the 5 at row 2, column 6.

Full solution (domino: first half → second half): 6–6: R2C3→R2C4; 6–5: R1C6→R2C6; 3–6: R1C1→R2C1; 3–1: R3C6→R3C5; 2–1: R3C1→R3C2.

Start with the cell that must equal 1 at row 2, column 3. It has the fewest ways to be satisfied.

That cell is a 1. Only 4 dominoes have a 1: 1–1, 5–1, 1–0, 2–1.

Place the 5–1 domino with the 5 at row 2, column 4 and the 1 at row 2, column 3.

Full solution (domino: first half → second half): 5–2: R3C4→R3C5; 1–1: R4C2→R5C2; 0–6: R3C2→R3C1; 5–1: R2C4→R2C3; 1–0: R4C3→R3C3; 2–2: R1C2→R2C2; 2–1: R4C5→R4C4.

Start with the cell that must equal 3 at row 2, column 3. It has the fewest ways to be satisfied.

That cell is a 3. Only 2 dominoes have a 3: 3–4, 3–1.

Place the 3–1 domino with the 3 at row 2, column 3 and the 1 at row 1, column 3.

Full solution (domino: first half → second half): 3–4: R3C2→R2C2; 1–1: R1C1→R1C2; 2–2: R4C4→R5C4; 4–5: R2C4→R2C5; 3–1: R2C3→R1C3; 6–4: R6C1→R7C1; 2–5: R5C2→R6C2; 6–0: R5C1→R4C1; 2–4: R6C4→R7C4; 5–6: R7C5→R6C5; 1–2: R3C5→R3C4; 0–5: R3C1→R2C1; 1–6: R4C5→R5C5; 4–4: R7C2→R7C3; 1–5: R1C4→R1C5.