Friday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. It's a balanced day to close out the week: the Easy board is a clean warm-up, but the Hard puzzle demands real discipline with the equal-value zone locking in early.
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 (=) zone dictates the entire opening. The 2/2 domino is the only piece that can satisfy an equal-value zone by itself, so it's the mandatory first move.
Key Insight: The high exact-number zones, pink (16), teal (15), and the double purple at (8) and (10), all interlock through shared dominoes. Solve them in sequence and the rest of the board falls into place.
Watch Out For: Don't burn the 6/6 too early. Teal (15) needs 12 of its 15 pips from that one domino, so if you spend it elsewhere, the teal zone becomes unsolvable.
Also, the green (0) zone must be fed by a 0 side, so save the 0/4 for the final stretch.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Lock in the purple (=) zone with the 2/2 placed horizontally. Both pips read 2, satisfying the equal condition immediately. This is your only guaranteed opening move.
- 2.Extend the equal zone by placing the 2/5 vertically. The 2 side stays in purple (=), keeping the condition valid, while the 5 side enters the pink (16) zone and starts the running total at 5.
- 3.Build pink (16) with the 6/0 laid horizontally. The 6 side pushes pink to 11, and the 0 side drops harmlessly into an uncolored cell with no condition to worry about.
- 4.Bridge pink into the green (6) zone with the 5/1 placed vertically. The 5 side completes pink (16) at 5 + 6 + 5 = 16. The 1 side opens green at 1.
- 5.Finish green (6) by placing the 2/3 horizontally. Green totals 1 + 2 + 3 = 6 and locks. Pink (16) and green (6) are both resolved.
- 6.Handle the teal (1) zone with the 1/3 placed vertically. The 1 side satisfies teal's exact-one requirement instantly. The 3 side spills into the navy (7) zone.
- 7.Continue navy (7) with the 4/5 placed vertically. The 5 side joins navy, bringing it to 8 so far. The 4 side starts the purple (8) zone.
- 8.Extend into the purple (8) zone with the 3/6 placed horizontally. The 6 side pushes purple (8) to 10, and the 3 side opens the pink (11) zone.
- 9.Feed the pink (11) zone using the 0/5 placed vertically. The 0 side lands in the orange (<3) zone, satisfying its less-than-3 condition. The 5 side brings pink (11) to 8.
- 10.Close the orange (<3) zone with the 1/1 placed vertically. Both pips are under 3. Pink (11) now totals 3 + 5 + 3 = 11 and locks. Orange (<3) is done.
- 11.Now the critical teal (15) sequence. Drop the 6/6 horizontally into the teal zone for 12 pips. Then place the 3/0 vertically so the 3 side joins teal, bringing the total to exactly 15. Do not deviate here, the 6/6 is the only way to reach this total.
- 12.Bridge the orange (3) zone and navy (7) with the 3/5 placed horizontally. The 3 side hits orange's exact total, and the 5 side carries navy to 13.
- 13.Add the 2/4 vertically across navy (7) and purple (10). The 4 side brings navy to 17, and the 2 side starts the purple (10) zone.
- 14.Place the 4/6 horizontally across the pink (8) zone and purple (10). The 6 side pushes purple (10) to 8, and the 4 side opens the pink (8) zone.
- 15.Close the board with the 0/4 placed vertically across the green (0) zone and pink (8). The 0 side satisfies green's exact-zero requirement, and the 4 side completes pink (8) at 4 + 4 = 8. Every zone is satisfied and every domino is placed.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 2/2 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone
- 2.Place the 2/5 domino vertically in the purple (=) zone and pink (16) zone
- 3.Place the 6/0 domino horizontally in the pink (16) zone and uncolored (no condition) zone
- 4.Place the 5/1 domino vertically in the pink (16) zone and green (6) zone
- 5.Place the 2/3 domino horizontally in the green (6) zone
- 6.Place the 1/3 domino vertically in the teal (1) zone and navy (7) zone
- 7.Place the 4/5 domino vertically in the navy (7) zone and purple (8) zone
- 8.Place the 3/6 domino horizontally in the purple (8) zone and pink (11) zone
- 9.Place the 0/5 domino vertically in the orange (<3) zone and pink (11) zone
- 10.Place the 1/1 domino vertically in the orange (<3) zone
- 11.Place the 6/6 domino horizontally in the teal (15) zone
- 12.Place the 3/0 domino vertically in the teal (15) zone and uncolored (no condition) zone
- 13.Place the 3/5 domino horizontally in the orange (3) zone and navy (7) zone
- 14.Place the 2/4 domino vertically in the navy (7) zone and purple (10) zone
- 15.Place the 4/6 domino horizontally in the pink (8) zone and purple (10) zone
- 16.Place the 0/4 domino vertically in the green (0) zone and pink (8) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge. All three puzzles share the same underlying board layout, so the day rewards clean execution over raw puzzle-solving novelty.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The teal (15) zone is the trap. It demands the 6/6 domino up front, and if you spend that piece early on a tempting high-value placement elsewhere, the zone is unrecoverable.
The green (0) zone is a close second, since it needs a 0 side reserved for the very end.
Our Take: Today's set is all about sequencing. The identical boards across all three difficulties mean the real difference is speed and confidence, not strategy.
The equal-value purple zone and the pair of pink exact-number zones form the spine of every solve, and once you internalize that order, the board practically walks itself. Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight.
See you then.
