Friday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Today's layout spans all three difficulties with a dense grid of color-coded zones and tight constraints, making this a satisfying end-of-week challenge. The equal-value zones demand careful domino matching, while the exact-number zones force precise pip accounting. 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 (10) zone is your most constrained cell pair. Lock it in first with the only domino that sums to 10.
Key Insight: The equal-value zones (pink, green, purple) create a web of interdependencies. A mistake in one propagates through all three. Verify each equal-value zone's consistency before moving on.
Watch Out For: The purple zone appears with three different conditions (<6, =, and 10). Track each purple sub-zone separately. The orange zone also has two separate conditions (<2 and 2) that must be satisfied by different domino halves.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Identify the navy (10) zone - a vertical two-cell column. The only domino combination that sums to exactly 10 is 5/5. Place it vertically. This locks in your first anchor.
- 2.Look at the purple (<6) zone. It connects horizontally to the pink (=) zone. The purple (<6) condition means each cell must be 5 or less. Place 0/1 horizontally across these two zones. Both values are under 6, satisfying purple. The 1 enters pink (=), beginning to establish pink's equal value.
- 3.Now examine the teal (2) zone, which connects horizontally to the orange (<2) zone. Place 2/0 horizontally. The 2 satisfies teal's exact-2 requirement. The 0 satisfies orange's less-than-2 condition.
- 4.Address the orange (<2) zone's remaining cell. It connects vertically to the purple (10) zone. Place 0/5 vertically. The 0 stays in orange (<2), and 5 enters purple (10). Purple (10) now has a 5 from this domino and will need more to reach a total of 10.
- 5.Work the equal-value zones systematically. Place 1/3 horizontally across pink (=) and green (=). Pink (=) already has a 1 from step 2. Adding another 1 keeps pink consistent. Green (=) gets a 3.
- 6.Place 3/3 vertically entirely within green (=). This confirms green's equal value is 3.
- 7.Place 1/1 vertically entirely within pink (=). This confirms pink's equal value is 1.
- 8.Place 3/2 vertically across teal (3) and orange (2). The 3 satisfies teal's exact-3. The 2 satisfies orange's exact-2.
- 9.Place 0/4 vertically across orange (2) and green (=). The 0 contributes to orange (2)'s exact sum. The 4 enters green (=).
- 10.Place 1/4 vertically across pink (=) and green (=). Pink gets 1, maintaining consistency. Green gets 4.
- 11.Place 4/2 horizontally across green (=) and purple (=).
- 12.Place 2/2 horizontally entirely within purple (=). Purple's equal value is now 2.
- 13.Place 6/2 vertically across navy (6) and purple (=). The 2 goes into purple (=), consistent with its equal value of 2. The 6 goes into navy (6).
- 14.Place 3/0 vertically across green (=) and navy (6). The 3 goes into green (=). The 0 goes into navy (6). Navy (6) now has 6 (from step 13) and 0 (from this step), summing to 6. Condition satisfied.
- 15.Place 5/3 vertically across purple (10) and green (=). Purple (10) now has 5 (from step 4) and 5 (from this step), summing to 10. Condition satisfied. Green (=) gets a 3, matching its equal value. All conditions met.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 0/1 domino horizontally in the purple (<6) zone and pink (=) zone
- 2.Place the 2/0 domino horizontally in the teal (2) zone and orange (<2) zone
- 3.Place the 0/5 domino vertically in the orange (<2) zone and purple (10) zone
- 4.Place the 5/5 domino vertically in the navy (10) zone
- 5.Place the 1/3 domino horizontally in the pink (=) zone and green (=) zone
- 6.Place the 3/3 domino vertically in the green (=) zone
- 7.Place the 1/1 domino vertically in the pink (=) zone
- 8.Place the 3/2 domino vertically in the teal (3) zone and orange (2) zone
- 9.Place the 0/4 domino vertically in the orange (2) zone and green (=) zone
- 10.Place the 1/4 domino vertically in the pink (=) zone and green (=) zone
- 11.Place the 4/2 domino horizontally in the green (=) zone and purple (=) zone
- 12.Place the 2/2 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone
- 13.Place the 6/2 domino vertically in the navy (6) zone and purple (=) zone
- 14.Place the 3/0 domino vertically in the green (=) zone and navy (6) zone
- 15.Place the 5/3 domino vertically in the purple (10) zone and green (=) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge. The equal-value constraints create a satisfying logic puzzle that rewards careful tracking, but the grid is forgiving enough that most players will find a path through.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The triple purple zones with three different conditions (<6, =, 10) demand constant attention. Mixing up which purple sub-zone you are working in is the most common mistake, and it cascades quickly through the rest of the grid.
Our Take: Friday's Pips set is a solid week-closer. The equal-value zones do the heavy lifting here, creating a chain of dependencies that feel good to resolve. The navy exact-number zones provide clean entry points, and the orange zones add just enough spice with their dual conditions. A well-balanced Friday puzzle.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
