Saturday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Today's set runs the full gauntlet, with tight exact-number zones and strict greater-than/less-than traps that punish careless placements.
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: Every zone here is color-locked with a condition, so there is zero free space. That means every domino must satisfy two conditions at once. Work dominoes that bridge two constrained zones before touching anything else.
Watch Out For: The teal (0) zone is easy to misread. It needs a literal zero, not a low value. Only the 0/6 and 0/4 dominoes can touch it, and both also feed adjacent purple zones, so a wrong turn there cascades fast. Also, the green (<3) zone only accepts 0, 1, or 2, so keep the 6/1 reserved for it.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Begin with the 6/5 horizontal across the purple (>3) zone and pink (=) zone. This is the highest-leverage move on the board, satisfying two conditions and opening the pink lane.
- 2.Seat the 5/5 vertically in the pink (=) zone. Every pip in pink must now be a 5, so the equal-value condition is locked.
- 3.Place the 6/6 vertically in the purple (=) zone. With purple set to 6, every domino touching it must present a 6 on that side.
- 4.Bridge the 6/2 vertically through purple (=) and teal (=). Then route the 0/6 vertically through teal (0) and purple (=) to satisfy the zero zone.
- 5.Place the 4/6 vertically in pink (4) and purple (=), hitting the exact-four requirement. Then the 6/1 vertical in purple (=) and green (<3) to satisfy the less-than-three zone.
- 6.Run the 0/4 horizontally through teal (0) and orange (>3), then the 4/2 vertical in green (=) and teal (=). Cap the teal (=) zone with the 2/2 vertical.
- 7.Drop the 0/2 horizontal across purple (<3) and teal (=), then the 2/5 vertical into teal (=) and pink (11).
- 8.Complete the pink (11) exact total with the 3/3 horizontal, then the 3/4 vertical in navy (3) and green (=).
- 9.Finish with the 3/2 vertical in orange (3) and navy (3), and the 1/0 vertical in navy (3) and teal (<3). Every zone is satisfied; the grid is solved.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 6/5 domino horizontally in the purple (>3) zone and pink (=) zone
- 2.Place the 5/5 domino vertically in the pink (=) zone
- 3.Place the 6/6 domino vertically in the purple (=) zone
- 4.Place the 6/2 domino vertically in the purple (=) zone and teal (=) zone
- 5.Place the 0/6 domino vertically in the teal (0) zone and purple (=) zone
- 6.Place the 4/6 domino vertically in the pink (4) zone and purple (=) zone
- 7.Place the 6/1 domino vertically in the purple (=) zone and green (<3) zone
- 8.Place the 0/4 domino horizontally in the teal (0) zone and orange (>3) zone
- 9.Place the 4/2 domino vertically in the green (=) zone and teal (=) zone
- 10.Place the 2/2 domino vertically in the teal (=) zone
- 11.Place the 0/2 domino horizontally in the purple (<3) zone and teal (=) zone
- 12.Place the 2/5 domino vertically in the teal (=) zone and pink (11) zone
- 13.Place the 3/3 domino horizontally in the pink (11) zone
- 14.Place the 3/4 domino vertically in the navy (3) zone and green (=) zone
- 15.Place the 3/2 domino vertically in the orange (3) zone and navy (3) zone
- 16.Place the 1/0 domino vertically in the navy (3) zone and teal (<3) 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 teal (0) zone is the trap. It looks like a forgiving low-value zone, but it demands a literal zero, and both dominoes that can fill it must also satisfy adjacent purple zones.
Botch that pairing and the whole chain unwinds.
Our Take: Today's set rewards disciplined order-of-operations: exact-number zones first, zero zones second, everything else third. The grid is well-constructed with no free cells, which means every domino earns its keep.
A satisfying solve if you respect the constraints.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
