Friday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Today's set features identical zone layouts across all three difficulty levels, creating a unique challenge where strategy matters more than complexity. We've got hints, step-by-step walkthroughs, and full solutions for Easy, Medium, and Hard difficulty levels.
How to Play Pips
Pips is a domino placement puzzle where you fill a grid of color-coded zones. Each zone has a condition you must satisfy using the pip values on your dominoes. The twist: you must use every domino and meet every condition to win.
Zone Conditions:
- = All pips in this zone must equal the same number
- Not Equal All pips must be different numbers
- > Pips must be greater than the listed number
- < Pips must be less than the listed number
- Exact Number Pips must total that exact value
- No Color Free space, any domino value works
Click or tap dominoes to rotate them. Each puzzle has one or more valid solutions.
Today's Easy Pips
Today's Medium Pips
Today's Hard Pips
Quick Hints (No Spoilers)
Starting Point: The purple (=) zones are your anchor points - establish them first to create a stable framework.
Key Insight: The purple (≠) zone requires careful planning - you need to place dominoes with all different values while connecting to other zones.
Watch Out For: The orange (6) zone needs exactly six total pips, not six on each half. The 6/6 domino perfectly satisfies this while also working with the purple (≠) zone's not-equal requirement..
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
---
---
---
---
---
- 1.Place the 5/5 domino vertically in the purple (=) zone
- 2.Place the 5/1 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone and pink (4) zone
- 3.Place the 3/4 domino horizontally in the pink (4) zone and teal (=) zone
- 4.Place the 5/3 domino vertically in the purple (=) zone and green (>4) zone
- 5.Place the 2/6 domino vertically in the green (>4) zone and pink (=) zone
- 6.Place the 6/3 domino horizontally in the pink (=) zone and teal (4) zone
- 7.Place the 1/1 domino horizontally in the teal (4) zone and purple (≠) zone
- 8.Place the 6/6 domino vertically in the purple (≠) zone and orange (6) zone
- 9.Place the 4/5 domino horizontally in the purple (≠) zone
- 10.Place the 2/3 domino horizontally in the purple (≠) zone
- 11.Place the 0/0 domino vertically in the navy (=) zone and purple (≠) zone
- 12.Place the 1/3 domino horizontally in the orange (4) zone
- 13.Place the 4/0 domino vertically in the teal (=) zone and navy (=) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge with identical layouts across all levels
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The identical layout across difficulties means the challenge comes entirely from strategic thinking rather than puzzle complexity, requiring careful planning of the purple (≠) zone connections.
Our Take: Today's identical zone layout across all three difficulty levels creates an interesting meta-challenge. The puzzle tests your ability to think strategically about domino placement order rather than simply solving more complex layouts. The purple (≠) zone requires particular attention - planning which dominoes connect to it while maintaining all-different values is the key to success.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
