Monday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Today's set features a balanced mix of exact number requirements and inequality constraints that will test your domino placement logic. 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
Quick Hints (No Spoilers)
Starting Point: Begin with the purple zone requiring exactly 13 pips - this gives you a clear target to work toward.
Key Insight: The pink "=" zone needs all identical values, which will help you place several dominoes consistently.
Easy Pips Solution
Scroll past if you want to keep trying
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- 1.Place the 6/0 domino horizontally in the purple (13) zone and pink (=) zone
- 2.Place the 4/4 domino horizontally in the teal (>3) zone and purple (13) zone
- 3.Place the 5/5 domino horizontally in the navy (10) zone
- 4.Place the 0/1 domino horizontally in the pink (=) zone and orange (4) zone
- 5.Place the 3/1 domino horizontally in the purple (13) zone and orange (4) zone
- 6.Place the 1/1 domino horizontally in the orange (4) zone
Today's Medium Pips
Quick Hints (No Spoilers)
Starting Point: Look at the purple (<4) and pink (=) zones - they share a domino that must satisfy both conditions simultaneously.
Key Insight: The teal (=) zone requires all identical values, which creates a constraint that propagates through multiple placements.
Medium Pips Solution
Scroll past if you want to keep trying
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- 1.Place the 3/0 domino horizontally in the purple (<4) zone and pink (=) zone
- 2.Place the 0/2 domino horizontally in the pink (=) zone and teal (=) zone
- 3.Place the 2/1 domino horizontally in the teal (=) zone and orange (<3) zone
- 4.Place the 0/6 domino vertically in the purple (<4) zone and navy (>4) zone
- 5.Place the 6/2 domino vertically in the green (>4) zone and purple (=) zone
- 6.Place the 2/3 domino horizontally in the pink (2) zone and teal (7) zone
- 7.Place the 4/1 domino horizontally in the teal (7) zone
- 8.Place the 2/2 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone
Today's Hard Pips
Quick Hints (No Spoilers)
Starting Point: Focus on the purple (>8) and pink (3) intersection - this domino must have one side >8 and the other exactly 3.
Key Insight: Multiple zones have the same color but different conditions - pay close attention to which pink, teal, orange, and navy zones you're working with.
Watch Out For: The duplicate orange (2) zones and duplicate pink (3) zones can cause confusion. Also, the teal (=) zone requires careful domino selection to maintain identical values.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 5/1 domino horizontally in the purple (>8) zone and pink (3) zone
- 2.Place the 1/1 domino horizontally in the pink (3) zone
- 3.Place the 0/2 domino horizontally in the pink (3) zone and teal (5) zone
- 4.Place the 6/1 domino vertically in the purple (>8) zone and orange (2) zone
- 5.Place the 1/4 domino vertically in the orange (2) zone and purple (9) zone
- 6.Place the 5/2 domino vertically in the purple (9) zone and green (6) zone
- 7.Place the 5/3 domino horizontally in the navy (8) zone
- 8.Place the 3/6 domino vertically in the teal (5) zone and green (>8) zone
- 9.Place the 5/4 domino vertically in the green (>8) zone and teal (=) zone
- 10.Place the 4/4 domino vertically in the teal (=) zone
- 11.Place the 4/0 domino horizontally in the green (6) zone and orange (2) zone
- 12.Place the 0/0 domino horizontally in the navy (0) zone
- 13.Place the 2/2 domino vertically in the pink (3) zone and orange (2) zone
- 14.Place the 1/0 domino vertically in the pink (3) zone and navy (0) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge with a clear progression from straightforward to complex constraints.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - the duplicate colored zones with different conditions create a mental mapping challenge that requires constant attention to which specific zone you're working with.
Our Take: Today's puzzles demonstrate excellent puzzle design with the Medium difficulty striking the perfect balance between approachable and challenging. The Hard puzzle's use of duplicate colors forces players to track multiple constraints simultaneously, making the eventual solution particularly satisfying. The progression from exact numbers to inequalities to mixed conditions provides a solid learning curve for Pips strategy.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
