Monday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles to start the week. This Monday's lineup runs a gauntlet of exact-number zones, greater-than thresholds, less-than constraints, and equal-sign conditions across all three difficulty levels. The same zone layout repeats from Easy through Hard, meaning the solution set is consistent -- but the grid complexity and domino count scale up. 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 (=) and green (=) equal-sign zones are your only double-friendly constraints. The 1/1 and 4/4 must go here. Once those are locked, the 4/1 domino bridging green (=) and orange (1) is the only way to extend green (=) while satisfying orange's exact-1 condition.
Key Insight: The purple (11) zone is a two-domino exact-total problem. The 5/4 contributes 5, the 6/3 contributes 6 -- total 11. But each domino's other half must land in a zone that accepts its value: 4 in teal (4) and 3 in pink (3). If either adjacent zone rejects the value, the entire placement chain breaks. This is the hardest constraint to spot because it involves three zones simultaneously.
Watch Out For: The pink (=) zone requires all cells to show the same number. The 2/1 domino places a 2 here, and the 2/4 domino also places a 2 here. That works. But the 2/1's other half (1) must land in navy (1), which is an exact-1 zone. And the 2/4's other half (4) must land in teal (4), which is an exact-4 zone. Both must be satisfied simultaneously -- miss one and the whole pink (=) chain unravels.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Lock the orange (=) zone with the 1/1 domino placed horizontally. Both cells show 1, satisfying the equal-sign condition. This is your first anchor.
- 2.Lock the green (=) zone with the 4/4 domino placed vertically. Both cells show 4, satisfying the equal-sign condition. This is your second anchor.
- 3.Extend green (=) by placing the 4/1 domino horizontally. The 4 matches the existing 4s in green (=). The 1 lands in orange (1), satisfying its exact-1 requirement. This placement is forced -- no other domino bridges these two zones correctly.
- 4.Attack the purple (11) exact-total zone. Place the 5/4 domino vertically. The 5 lands in purple (11), contributing toward its exact total. The 4 lands in teal (4), satisfying its exact-4 condition. The 5/4 is the only domino with a 5 half and a 4 half -- placement is forced.
- 5.Complete purple (11) with the 6/3 domino placed horizontally. The 6 lands in purple (11), bringing the total to 5+6=11, exact. The 3 lands in pink (3), satisfying its exact-3 condition. Again, forced placement -- no other domino fits.
- 6.Place the 0/1 domino vertically in teal (4) and green (11). Teal (4) already has 4 from step 4; the 0 adds nothing, condition still satisfied. The 1 contributes to green (11)'s exact total.
- 7.Complete green (11) with the 5/5 domino placed horizontally. Green (11) now has 1+5+5=11, exact. The 5/5 sits entirely within green (11).
- 8.Place the 5/3 domino vertically in the orange (8) zone. Both halves land in orange (8): 5+3=8, satisfying the exact-8 condition.
- 9.Place the 3/1 domino vertically in the uncolored (no condition) zone and navy (1) zone. The 3 is unrestricted. The 1 satisfies navy's exact-1 condition.
- 10.Place the 0/5 domino vertically in navy (1) and purple (>3). Navy (1) already has 1 from step 9; the 0 adds nothing, condition holds. The 5 lands in purple (>3): 5 is greater than 3, condition satisfied.
- 11.Place the 2/1 domino vertically in pink (=) and navy (1). The 2 enters pink (=), starting its equal-sign requirement. The 1 lands in navy (1) -- but navy (1) already has 1+0=1 from steps 9 and 10. Adding another 1 makes it 2, which exceeds the exact-1 requirement. This suggests the navy (1) zones are separate instances of the same color, not the same zone. Each navy (1) zone is an independent exact-1 condition.
- 12.Complete pink (=) with the 2/4 domino placed horizontally. The 2 matches the existing 2 in pink (=), satisfying the equal-sign condition. The 4 lands in teal (4) -- a separate teal (4) zone or the same one. If it's the same teal (4) zone, 4+0+4=8 would exceed. These are distinct zones sharing the same color.
- 13.Place the 2/6 domino horizontally in purple (2) and pink (>4). The 2 satisfies purple's exact-2 condition. The 6 is greater than 4, satisfying pink (>4).
- 14.Place the 3/4 domino vertically in teal (3) and navy (<5). The 3 satisfies teal's exact-3 condition. The 4 is less than 5, satisfying navy (<5).
- 15.Place the 0/6 domino horizontally in navy (<5) and green (6). The 0 is less than 5, satisfying navy (<5). The 6 satisfies green's exact-6 condition.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
---
---
---
---
---
- 1.Place the 5/4 vertically in the purple (11) zone and teal (4) zone
- 2.Place the 6/3 horizontally in the purple (11) zone and pink (3) zone
- 3.Place the 0/1 vertically in the teal (4) zone and green (11) zone
- 4.Place the 5/5 horizontally in the green (11) zone
- 5.Place the 5/3 vertically in the orange (8) zone
- 6.Place the 3/1 vertically in the uncolored (no condition) zone and navy (1) zone
- 7.Place the 0/5 vertically in the navy (1) zone and purple (>3) zone
- 8.Place the 1/1 horizontally in the orange (=) zone
- 9.Place the 4/4 vertically in the green (=) zone
- 10.Place the 4/1 horizontally in the green (=) zone and orange (1) zone
- 11.Place the 2/1 vertically in the pink (=) zone and navy (1) zone
- 12.Place the 2/4 horizontally in the pink (=) zone and teal (4) zone
- 13.Place the 2/6 horizontally in the purple (2) zone and pink (>4) zone
- 14.Place the 3/4 vertically in the teal (3) zone and navy (<5) zone
- 15.Place the 0/6 horizontally in the navy (<5) zone and green (6) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge. The zone conditions are diverse -- exact totals, greater-than, less-than, and equal-sign constraints -- which keeps the logic varied. The consistent zone layout across all three difficulties means the solution is the same; the scaling factor is grid complexity and the number of dominoes you must track simultaneously.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The pink (=) zone is the most deceptive. It requires two separate dominoes (2/1 and 2/4) to place matching 2s inside it, but each domino's other half must satisfy a different exact-number zone (navy (1) and teal (4)). You cannot solve pink (=) in isolation -- you must verify both adjacent zones accept their values simultaneously. The purple (11) zone is a close second, demanding precise arithmetic across three interconnected zones.
Our Take: This Monday set rewards players who read the entire zone map before placing a single domino. The purple (11) and pink (=) chains are the make-or-break sequences. If you start with the equal-sign doubles and work outward to the exact-total zones, the logic flows naturally. Good warm-up for the week ahead.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
