Monday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles to start the week. July 27 delivers a consistent zone layout across all three difficulty levels, with a heavy emphasis on equal-condition zones and exact-number requirements that reward careful domino tracking. 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 orange (0) zone is the only guaranteed forced placement -- the 0/0 domino must go there. Use this as your fixed anchor and build outward zone by zone.
Key Insight: The zone layout has multiple instances of the same color with different conditions: navy (=) appears twice, pink (=) appears twice, green (0) appears twice, teal appears with conditions 0, 2, and 4, and purple appears with conditions 3, 4, and (=). Treat each zone as independent. The equal-condition zones are the hardest to satisfy because every domino half entering them must carry the same pip value. One mistake cascades.
Watch Out For: The purple (3) zone requires two domino halves that sum to 3. The solution uses the 1/6 and 2/4 dominoes -- but only the 1 and the 2 actually enter the purple (3) zone (1+2=3). The 6 and 4 cross into adjacent zones. It is easy to misread which halves belong to which zone when dominoes bridge boundaries. Double-check every border crossing against both zones' conditions.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Place the 0/0 domino vertically in the orange (0) zone. This is the only domino that can satisfy a zero-sum condition. Place it immediately to secure your anchor.
- 2.Place the 0/6 domino horizontally, bridging orange (0) and the first navy (=) zone. The 0 stays in orange (0). The 6 enters the first navy (=) zone, establishing that all pips in this zone must be 6.
- 3.Place the 1/6 domino horizontally, bridging purple (3) and the first navy (=) zone. The 6 matches navy (=)'s equal condition. The 1 enters purple (3), this zone needs two halves summing to 3, so you still need a second half.
- 4.Place the 2/4 domino horizontally, bridging purple (3) and pink (4). The 2 enters purple (3), where 1+2=3 satisfies the exact-number condition. The 4 enters pink (4), satisfying its exact-number condition.
- 5.Place the 0/2 domino vertically, bridging green (0) and the first pink (=) zone. The 0 satisfies green (0)'s exact-number condition. The 2 enters the first pink (=) zone, setting its equal condition to 2.
- 6.Place the 6/2 domino horizontally, bridging the first navy (=) zone and the first pink (=) zone. The 6 matches navy (=)'s condition. The 2 matches pink (=)'s condition.
- 7.Place the 3/2 domino horizontally, bridging purple (4) and the first pink (=) zone. The 3 enters purple (4). The 2 matches pink (=).
- 8.Place the 0/1 domino horizontally, bridging teal (0) and purple (4). The 0 satisfies teal (0). The 1 enters purple (4), where 3+1=4 satisfies the exact-number condition.
- 9.Place the 2/5 domino vertically, bridging the first pink (=) zone and orange (>4). The 2 matches pink (=). The 5 is greater than 4, satisfying orange (>4).
- 10.Place the 1/3 domino vertically, bridging teal (2) and the second navy (=) zone. The 1 enters teal (2). The 3 enters the second navy (=) zone, setting its equal condition to 3. This is a separate navy (=) zone from the one with 6s.
- 11.Place the 1/5 domino horizontally, bridging teal (2) and purple (=). The 1 enters teal (2), where 1+1=2 satisfies the exact-number condition. The 5 enters purple (=), setting its equal condition to 5.
- 12.Place the 3/0 domino horizontally, bridging the second navy (=) zone and green (0). The 3 matches the second navy (=)'s condition. The 0 satisfies green (0)'s exact-number condition.
- 13.Place the 3/5 domino horizontally, bridging the second navy (=) zone and pink (>4). The 3 matches navy (=). The 5 is greater than 4, satisfying pink (>4).
- 14.Place the 0/4 domino horizontally in the uncolored (no condition) zone and orange (4) zone. The uncolored zone has no restrictions. The 4 satisfies orange (4)'s exact-number condition.
- 15.Place the 5/0 domino vertically, bridging purple (=) and green (0). The 5 matches purple (=)'s equal condition. The 0 satisfies green (0).
- 16.Place the 4/5 domino vertically, bridging teal (4) and purple (=). The 4 satisfies teal (4)'s exact-number condition. The 5 matches purple (=)'s equal condition, completing the puzzle.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 0/0 domino vertically in the orange (0) zone
- 2.Place the 0/6 domino horizontally in the orange (0) zone and navy (=) zone
- 3.Place the 1/6 domino horizontally in the purple (3) zone and navy (=) zone
- 4.Place the 2/4 domino horizontally in the purple (3) zone and pink (4) zone
- 5.Place the 0/2 domino vertically in the green (0) zone and pink (=) zone
- 6.Place the 6/2 domino horizontally in the navy (=) zone and pink (=) zone
- 7.Place the 3/2 domino horizontally in the purple (4) zone and pink (=) zone
- 8.Place the 0/1 domino horizontally in the teal (0) zone and purple (4) zone
- 9.Place the 2/5 domino vertically in the pink (=) zone and orange (>4) zone
- 10.Place the 1/3 domino vertically in the teal (2) zone and navy (=) zone
- 11.Place the 1/5 domino horizontally in the teal (2) zone and purple (=) zone
- 12.Place the 3/0 domino horizontally in the navy (=) zone and green (0) zone
- 13.Place the 3/5 domino horizontally in the navy (=) zone and pink (>4) zone
- 14.Place the 0/4 domino horizontally in the uncolored (no condition) zone and orange (4) zone
- 15.Place the 5/0 domino vertically in the purple (=) zone and green (0) zone
- 16.Place the 4/5 domino vertically in the teal (4) zone and purple (=) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge. The zone layout is identical across all three difficulty levels, but the challenge comes from managing multiple same-color zones with different conditions and tracking equal-condition constraints across zone boundaries.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard -- The dual navy (=) zones and dual pink (=) zones create a tracking problem. With one navy zone locked to 6s and another to 3s, and one pink zone locked to 2s while the other pink (=) zone gets a different value, it is easy to confuse which equal condition applies where. The purple (3) zone is also a trap -- only one of the two domino halves that cross into it actually contributes to the sum.
Our Take: Today's Pips set is a solid Monday workout. The consistent zone layout across all difficulties lets you build pattern recognition on the same spatial logic while the challenge ramps up through constraint density. The equal-condition zones are the real gatekeepers -- they punish rushed placements and reward methodical tracking. A clean, satisfying solve when you nail the sequence.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
