Saturday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Today's set leans on strict greater-than thresholds and exact-value zones, with a couple of zero-locked traps that punish rushed placement.
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)
Key Insight: The teal (>16) zone demands a 17-plus sum, which locks in the 6/5 and 6/4 dominoes. Meanwhile the teal (=) zone needs a matching trio, and 4 is the only value that works across the grid you're given.
Watch Out For: The green (0) zone is the easy trap. It demands a literal zero, not just a low value, so only the 0/0 and 0/2 dominoes can touch it.
And the navy (0) zone is separate from the navy (=) zone, so don't confuse the two. One needs all equal pips; the other needs zeros, and mixing them up unravels the whole grid.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Begin with the navy (=) zone. Place the 1/1 vertically to set the equal-value baseline, then run the 1/0 vertical across navy (=) and an uncolored zone, and the 2/1 vertical through pink (>0) and navy (=). Navy is locked at 1, 1, 1.
- 2.Place the 5/0 vertically in the purple (>4) zone and an uncolored zone. The 5 clears the four threshold on its own.
- 3.Drop the 6/5 vertically into teal (>16), then the 6/4 horizontally across teal (>16) and orange (>3). The combined 21 clears 16, and the orange side reads 4, beating its threshold.
- 4.Fill the green (0) zone with the 0/0 horizontal, then run the 0/2 vertical across green (0) and purple (<3). Both zeros satisfy the exact-zero demand.
- 5.Seat the 6/6 horizontally in the pink (=) zone. Every pip in pink is now 6, so the equal condition holds.
- 6.Build the teal (=) zone with the 4/4 vertical, the 4/5 vertical across teal (=) and green (>3), and the 4/3 vertical across teal (=) and an uncolored zone. Teal reads 4, 4, 4.
- 7.Place the 3/0 horizontal across an uncolored zone and navy (0), then drop the 6/2 vertically into the orange (8) zone. The exact total is satisfied.
- 8.Finish with the 4/0 horizontal across purple (>3) and navy (0). The 4 clears the threshold and the 0 seals navy. Every zone is satisfied; the grid is solved.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 1/1 domino vertically in the navy (=) zone
- 2.Place the 1/0 domino vertically in the navy (=) zone and uncolored (no condition) zone
- 3.Place the 2/1 domino vertically in the pink (>0) zone and navy (=) zone
- 4.Place the 5/0 domino vertically in the purple (>4) zone and uncolored (no condition) zone
- 5.Place the 6/5 domino vertically in the teal (>16) zone
- 6.Place the 6/4 domino horizontally in the teal (>16) zone and orange (>3) zone
- 7.Place the 0/0 domino horizontally in the green (0) zone
- 8.Place the 0/2 domino vertically in the green (0) zone and purple (<3) zone
- 9.Place the 6/6 domino horizontally in the pink (=) zone
- 10.Place the 4/4 domino vertically in the teal (=) zone
- 11.Place the 4/5 domino vertically in the teal (=) zone and green (>3) zone
- 12.Place the 4/3 domino vertically in the teal (=) zone and uncolored (no condition) zone
- 13.Place the 3/0 domino horizontally in the uncolored (no condition) zone and navy (0) zone
- 14.Place the 6/2 domino vertically in the orange (8) zone
- 15.Place the 4/0 domino horizontally in the purple (>3) zone and navy (0) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge. All three difficulty levels share the same zone layout, so the gap between Easy and Hard comes down to solver confidence more than puzzle complexity.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The twin navy zones are the trap. One requires all-equal pips, the other demands exact zeros, and they share the same color name.
Mix them up and the whole chain unwinds before you catch it.
Our Take: Today's set rewards disciplined order-of-operations: exact-value zones first, zero zones second, everything else third. The grid uses every domino with no wasted cells, so each placement earns its keep.
A satisfying solve if you respect the constraints.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
