Friday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Today's lineup delivers a satisfying spread of logic challenges, with exact-number zones and inequality conditions that will test your domino placement skills across all three difficulty levels. 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 navy (=) zone is the linchpin. Every pip inside must be identical, which means the dominoes you place here dictate what's available for every surrounding zone.
Key Insight: The green (>5) and purple (>5) zones force high-value pips. There are only so many dominoes with 6 pips -- reserve them strategically and don't waste high values on zones that don't need them.
Watch Out For: The teal (0) zone looks simple but it's a trap if you rush. Only a 0-pip domino fits, but the domino you choose also has to satisfy the adjacent zone's condition. The 0/6 is the only option that works with green (>5) next door.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Start with the teal (0) zone paired with green (>5). The 0/6 domino is the only piece that satisfies both: the 0 lands in teal and the 6 crosses into green, meeting the greater-than-five requirement. Place it vertically.
- 2.Next, tackle orange (<2) with purple (>5). Only pips of 0 or 1 fit in orange. The 1/6 domino works perfectly -- 1 in orange, 6 in purple. Place it vertically.
- 3.Now the navy (=) zone. This is where the puzzle gets interesting. You need two dominoes where every pip inside navy is the same number. Place the 2/6 vertically so the 2 lands in navy and the 6 crosses into teal (>5). Then place the 2/4 horizontally entirely within navy. Both share the 2 pip, satisfying the condition.
- 4.Place the purple (2) and pink (5) zones with the 2/5 domino horizontally. Exact-number conditions satisfied in one move.
- 5.Handle green (<2). Place the 0/0 horizontally here. Then place the 1/3 vertically so the 1 stays in green and the 3 crosses into orange (<5).
- 6.Fill navy (>2) and green (=). Place the 6/4 horizontally with 6 in navy and 4 in green. Then place the 4/1 horizontally with 4 in green and 1 in purple (<2).
- 7.Work the purple (<2) and pink (2) boundary. Place the 0/2 horizontally -- 0 in purple, 2 in pink.
- 8.Place the 2/1 vertically in pink (2) and purple (2). Then place the 1/5 vertically in purple (2) and teal (5).
- 9.Place the 5/0 horizontally in teal (5) and orange (0).
- 10.Finish with the pink (=) zone. Place the 1/1 vertically here, then place the 0/1 horizontally in orange (0) and pink (=).
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
---
---
---
---
---
- 1.Place the 2/5 domino horizontally in the purple (2) zone and pink (5) zone
- 2.Place the 0/6 domino vertically in the teal (0) zone and green (>5) zone
- 3.Place the 1/6 domino vertically in the orange (<2) zone and purple (>5) zone
- 4.Place the 0/3 domino horizontally in the orange (<2) zone and navy (>2) zone
- 5.Place the 2/6 domino vertically in the navy (=) zone and teal (>5) zone
- 6.Place the 2/4 domino horizontally in the navy (=) zone
- 7.Place the 0/0 domino horizontally in the green (<2) zone
- 8.Place the 1/3 domino vertically in the green (<2) zone and orange (<5) zone
- 9.Place the 6/4 domino horizontally in the navy (>2) zone and green (=) zone
- 10.Place the 4/1 domino horizontally in the green (=) zone and purple (<2) zone
- 11.Place the 0/2 domino horizontally in the purple (<2) zone and pink (2) zone
- 12.Place the 2/1 domino vertically in the pink (2) zone and purple (2) zone
- 13.Place the 1/5 domino vertically in the purple (2) zone and teal (5) zone
- 14.Place the 5/0 domino horizontally in the teal (5) zone and orange (0) zone
- 15.Place the 1/1 domino vertically in the pink (=) zone
- 16.Place the 0/1 domino horizontally in the orange (0) zone and pink (=) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge -- the three difficulty levels share the same core layout, but the strategic approach shifts as the constraints tighten. The navy (=) zone is the key differentiator across all three.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard -- the combination of the navy (=) zone requiring identical pips while simultaneously feeding into the teal (>5) zone creates a constraint chain that demands careful domino selection from the start. One wrong placement early and you run out of valid options fast.
Our Take: Today's set rewards players who read the grid as a system of interconnected constraints rather than isolated zones. The navy (=) zone acts as a forcing function across all difficulty levels, making it the single most important decision point in every puzzle. Solid Friday workout for the brain.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
