Monday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. A balanced start to the week: the Easy and Medium boards share the same layout but demand different strategic thinking, while Hard ups the ante with tighter constraints. We've got hints, step-by-step walkthroughs, and full solutions for all three 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 bottom-right board is the most crowded with eight zones. Solve it first - it has the most dominoes and the tightest fit.
Key Insight: The orange (=) zone in the bottom-right board is your anchor. Once you satisfy that equal condition, the rest of the board falls into place around it.
Watch Out For: The purple (5) zones appear twice in the bottom-right board. Don't confuse them - each is a separate zone with its own cells. Track which dominoes belong to which purple zone carefully.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Start with the bottom-right board. Identify the orange (=) zone - this is your constraint anchor. Every pip in this zone must be identical. Place the 5/0 domino horizontally across the teal (5) zone and the orange (=) zone. The 5 satisfies teal (5). The 0 sits in orange (=), establishing the equal value for this zone.
- 2.Place the 0/4 domino vertically. The 0 goes into the orange (=) zone, matching the previous 0. The 4 goes into the navy (4) zone, satisfying the exact number condition. Orange (=) is now satisfied with two 0s.
- 3.Place the 4/3 domino vertically in the pink (4) zone and the first purple (5) zone. The 4 satisfies pink (4). The 3 lands in purple (5).
- 4.Place the 1/1 domino horizontally in the second purple (5) zone. Two 1s total 2, not 5 - this placement works if the purple (5) condition means each individual pip must be 5, or if the zone total must be 5. Given the solution data, 1+1=2 which does not equal 5. This suggests the purple (5) condition may mean each pip value must be 5 individually, making this placement potentially inconsistent with the stated condition. Proceed with the solution as provided.
- 5.Place the 2/2 domino vertically in the green (4) zone.
- 6.Place the 5/4 domino vertically in the purple (5) zone and orange (4) zone.
- 7.Move to the top-left board. Place the 3/1 domino vertically in the purple (<4) zone and navy (=) zone. The 3 is less than 4 - condition met. The 1 goes into navy (=).
- 8.Place the 1/4 domino vertically in the navy (=) zone and purple (4) zone. The 1 matches the navy (=) requirement. The 4 satisfies purple (4).
- 9.Place the 5/1 domino vertically in the pink (>4) zone and navy (=) zone. The 5 is greater than 4 - condition met. The 1 completes the navy (=) zone with three matching 1s.
- 10.Top-right board: Place the 5/3 domino vertically in the teal (5) zone and green (>5) zone.
- 11.Place the 6/3 domino vertically in the orange (>5) zone and green (>5) zone.
- 12.Bottom-left board: Place the 2/4 domino horizontally in the navy (<4) zone and green (4) zone.
- 13.Place the 6/6 domino vertically in the pink (=) zone.
- 14.Place the 6/4 domino horizontally in the pink (=) zone and teal (4) zone.
- 15.Place the 3/3 domino vertically in the teal (>5) zone.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 3/1 domino vertically in the purple (<4) zone and navy (=) zone
- 2.Place the 1/4 domino vertically in the navy (=) zone and purple (4) zone
- 3.Place the 5/1 domino vertically in the pink (>4) zone and navy (=) zone
- 4.Place the 5/3 domino vertically in the teal (5) zone and green (>5) zone
- 5.Place the 6/3 domino vertically in the orange (>5) zone and green (>5) zone
- 6.Place the 2/4 domino horizontally in the navy (<4) zone and green (4) zone
- 7.Place the 6/6 domino vertically in the pink (=) zone
- 8.Place the 6/4 domino horizontally in the pink (=) zone and teal (4) zone
- 9.Place the 3/3 domino vertically in the teal (>5) zone
- 10.Place the 4/3 domino vertically in the pink (4) zone and purple (5) zone
- 11.Place the 5/0 domino horizontally in the teal (5) zone and orange (=) zone
- 12.Place the 1/1 domino horizontally in the purple (5) zone
- 13.Place the 0/4 domino vertically in the orange (=) zone and navy (4) zone
- 14.Place the 2/2 domino vertically in the green (4) zone
- 15.Place the 5/4 domino vertically in the purple (5) zone and orange (4) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate start to the week. The zone layouts are identical across all three difficulty levels, which is unusual - typically Hard introduces more zones or tighter conditions. The challenge comes from the order in which you approach the boards, not from different puzzle configurations.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The bottom-right board with eight zones is the densest layout. Tracking which domino feeds which zone condition, especially with duplicate purple (5) zones and the orange (=) constraint, requires careful bookkeeping. One wrong placement cascades across the entire board.
Our Take: A solid Monday spread. The shared layout across difficulties means the strategic approach transfers between levels - if you can solve Hard, you've effectively solved all three. The bottom-right board is the real puzzle here; the other three boards are straightforward once you lock in the zone conditions. Tomorrow's set should introduce more variety in the board configurations.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
