Friday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles built around exact-number constraints and an equals-condition zone that forces uniform pip values. Today's lineup rewards methodical placement across all three difficulty levels, with the same core zone layout scaling in 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 (9) zone requires two dominoes summing to exactly 9. The 3/4 and 5/1 combination is one path, but you must verify both dominoes also satisfy their other zone conditions before committing.
Key Insight: The pink (=) zone is the most restrictive condition in the entire puzzle. Once you place the first domino there with a value of 0, every other domino entering pink must also carry a 0. This creates a hard constraint that filters your remaining domino choices aggressively.
Watch Out For: The navy (0) zone at the end of the solution is easy to overlook. If you burn your 0-pip dominoes elsewhere without accounting for it, you'll be stuck with no valid placement for the final domino. Reserve a 0 for navy (0) and another for pink (=).
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Start with the purple (0) and pink (4) zones. Place the 0/4 domino horizontally. The 0 satisfies purple (0) and the 4 satisfies pink (4). This is the only domino that cleanly solves both zones simultaneously.
- 2.Place the 5/4 domino horizontally in the teal (5) zone and the uncolored zone. The 5 satisfies teal's exact-number condition. The uncolored zone accepts any value, so the 4 is free.
- 3.Place the 1/2 domino horizontally in the orange (1) zone and navy (2) zone. Both exact-number conditions satisfied in one placement.
- 4.Place the 3/2 domino vertically in the green (3) zone and navy (2) zone. The 3 satisfies green's exact-number condition.
- 5.Now the critical pink (=) zone. Place the 3/0 domino horizontally so the 3 lands in purple (3) and the 0 lands in pink (=). This sets the uniform value for pink to 0. Every remaining domino that enters pink must carry a 0 pip. This is the single most consequential decision in the puzzle.
- 6.Place the 3/4 domino vertically in the purple (9) zone and uncolored zone. This contributes 3 toward the purple (9) total.
- 7.Place the 1/4 domino vertically in the teal (1) zone and pink (4) zone. The 1 satisfies teal's exact-number condition.
- 8.Place the 1/0 domino vertically in the orange (1) zone and teal (0) zone. The 0 satisfies teal's exact-number condition.
- 9.Place the 2/4 domino horizontally in the orange (2) zone and navy (4) zone.
- 10.Place the 2/0 domino horizontally in the green (2) zone and pink (=) zone. The 0 maintains the pink equals condition. This is the second domino entering pink, and it carries a 0 as required.
- 11.Place the 3/1 domino horizontally in the navy (3) zone and green (1) zone.
- 12.Place the 3/5 domino vertically in the green (3) zone and purple (5) zone.
- 13.Place the 5/1 domino horizontally in the purple (9) zone and teal (1) zone. The purple (9) zone now totals 3 (from step 6) + 5 (from this step) = 9. Condition satisfied.
- 14.Place the 5/2 domino horizontally in the pink (5) zone and orange (2) zone.
- 15.Place the 5/0 domino vertically in the orange (5) zone and navy (0) zone. The 0 satisfies navy's exact-number condition. All dominoes placed, all conditions satisfied.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 0/4 domino horizontally in the purple (0) zone and pink (4) zone
- 2.Place the 5/4 domino horizontally in the teal (5) zone and uncolored (no condition) zone
- 3.Place the 1/2 domino horizontally in the orange (1) zone and navy (2) zone
- 4.Place the 3/2 domino vertically in the green (3) zone and navy (2) zone
- 5.Place the 3/0 domino horizontally in the purple (3) zone and pink (=) zone
- 6.Place the 3/4 domino vertically in the purple (9) zone and uncolored (no condition) zone
- 7.Place the 1/4 domino vertically in the teal (1) zone and pink (4) zone
- 8.Place the 1/0 domino vertically in the orange (1) zone and teal (0) zone
- 9.Place the 2/4 domino horizontally in the orange (2) zone and navy (4) zone
- 10.Place the 2/0 domino horizontally in the green (2) zone and pink (=) zone
- 11.Place the 3/1 domino horizontally in the navy (3) zone and green (1) zone
- 12.Place the 3/5 domino vertically in the green (3) zone and purple (5) zone
- 13.Place the 5/1 domino horizontally in the purple (9) zone and teal (1) zone
- 14.Place the 5/2 domino horizontally in the pink (5) zone and orange (2) zone
- 15.Place the 5/0 domino vertically in the orange (5) zone and navy (0) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge -- the exact-number conditions are straightforward but the pink (=) zone adds a restrictive constraint across all three difficulty levels. The same zone layout and solution applies to Easy, Medium, and Hard, with difficulty scaling through grid complexity and additional domino counts.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard -- the pink (=) zone forces all entering pips to be 0, which means you must carefully track your remaining 0-pip dominoes. If you use the 0/4 in step 1 and the 0/3 in step 5, you have exactly two 0-pip dominoes left (1/0 and 2/0) to satisfy both the pink (=) zone and the navy (0) zone. One misstep and you're out of zeros.
Our Take: Today's set is a masterclass in constraint propagation. The pink (=) zone acts as a forcing function that ripples through every subsequent placement, and the purple (9) zone requires forward-thinking about which domino pairs sum correctly. Solid Friday puzzle that rewards planning over brute force.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
