NYT Pips hints and answers, Saturday, September 26, 2026

Start with the cell that must equal 1 at row 2, column 4. It has the fewest ways to be satisfied.

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

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

Full solution (domino: first half → second half): 4–1: R2C3→R2C4; 2–4: R2C2→R1C2; 2–2: R2C1→R3C1; 1–3: R5C2→R4C2; 4–5: R3C3→R4C3.

Start with the cell that must equal 4 at row 3, column 1. It has the fewest ways to be satisfied.

That cell is a 4. Only 3 dominoes have a 4: 4–1, 3–4, 4–5.

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

Full solution (domino: first half → second half): 5–5: R5C1→R5C2; 4–1: R2C5→R3C5; 6–3: R4C6→R3C6; 0–1: R2C4→R1C4; 3–3: R2C2→R3C2; 3–4: R4C2→R4C3; 2–1: R2C3→R1C3; 4–5: R3C1→R4C1.

Start with the cell that must equal 5 at row 1, column 2. It has the fewest ways to be satisfied.

That cell is a 5. Only 5 dominoes have a 5: 0–5, 1–5, 2–5, 3–5, 4–5.

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

Full solution (domino: first half → second half): 0–1: R6C5→R6C4; 0–2: R1C4→R1C3; 0–3: R5C1→R4C1; 0–4: R4C3→R3C3; 0–5: R2C6→R3C6; 1–2: R3C5→R3C4; 1–3: R5C5→R4C5; 1–4: R3C1→R2C1; 1–5: R2C5→R1C5; 2–3: R5C6→R4C6; 2–4: R5C2→R5C3; 2–5: R6C2→R6C3; 3–4: R4C4→R5C4; 3–5: R2C2→R1C2; 4–5: R2C3→R2C4; 3–6: R4C2→R3C2.