Saturday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. May 30 delivers an unusual configuration where all three difficulty levels share the same zone layout and solution -- a rare identical-triple that tests your ability to spot constraints and execute cleanly. We've got hints, step-by-step walkthroughs, and full solutions for Easy, Medium, and Hard.
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: Same grid as Easy and Medium. The purple (=) zone at the top is your most constrained anchor -- the 0/0 domino goes first and the 0/5 bridges into pink (5).
Key Insight: This layout packs 18 zone entries into a compact grid, meaning multiple same-color sub-zones sit adjacent to each other. You must track which sub-zone is which -- a 5 placed in one navy (5) sub-zone does not satisfy a different navy (5) sub-zone across the grid.
Watch Out For: The teal (=) and teal (5) sub-zones are separate. Do not try to bridge a domino across them -- the (=) zone requires uniform values while the (5) zone needs an exact sum. Mixing them breaks both conditions.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Open with the purple (=) zone. Place 0/0 vertically -- both zeros match, locking in the top anchor. This zone can only hold matching values, so any domino placed here must have two identical pip numbers.
- 2.Place 0/5 horizontally across purple (=) and pink (5). The 0 in purple matches the existing zeros, giving purple (=) three zeros total -- condition satisfied. The 5 in pink hits the exact-5 requirement for that sub-zone in a single domino.
- 3.Place 2/1 horizontally in navy (5). Running total: 3 of the 5 needed. The navy (5) sub-zone will need exactly 2 more pips to complete.
- 4.Place 2/5 vertically across navy (5) and green (5). The 2 in navy brings the total to exactly 5 -- navy (5) sub-zone solved. The 5 in green starts its exact-5 count.
- 5.Place 5/3 vertically across teal (5) and orange (=). The 5 in teal begins the exact-5 total for that sub-zone. The 3 in orange (=) starts the equal-value requirement -- it needs a matching 3 to be satisfied.
- 6.Place 3/0 vertically across orange (=) and the uncolored zone. The 3 in orange (=) matches the 3 from step 5 -- orange (=) sub-zone satisfied with two 3s. The 0 is unrestricted in the uncolored zone.
- 7.Place 2/2 vertically in teal (=). Both 2s are equal, satisfying the teal (=) sub-zone's uniform-value condition.
- 8.Place 2/6 vertically across teal (=) and pink (>5). The 2 in teal (=) continues that sub-zone's pattern. The 6 in pink (>5) satisfies the greater-than-5 condition.
- 9.Place 4/5 vertically across teal (=) and navy (5). This 5 goes into a separate navy (5) sub-zone -- different from the one solved in step 4 -- hitting its exact-5 requirement. The 4 in teal (=) joins the equal-value group.
- 10.Place 1/4 vertically across orange (=) and teal (=). This fills a separate orange (=) sub-zone (getting a single 1) and adds a 4 to teal (=).
- 11.Place 1/1 vertically in another orange (=) sub-zone. Both 1s are equal, satisfying that third orange (=) sub-zone.
- 12.Place 5/5 vertically across purple (5) and navy (5). Each 5 satisfies its respective exact-5 sub-zone in one move.
- 13.Place 3/2 horizontally in a pink (5) sub-zone. 3+2=5 -- exact hit for that pink sub-zone.
- 14.Place 6/3 horizontally across green (>5) and purple (<5). 6 is greater than 5, satisfying green's condition. 3 is less than 5, satisfying purple's condition.
- 15.Place 6/4 vertically across orange (>5) and green (5). 6 satisfies orange's greater-than-5 condition. The 4 contributes to a green (5) sub-zone's exact-5 total.
- 16.Place 1/5 horizontally across green (5) and purple (5). This fills the remaining spaces in both exact-5 sub-zones, completing the grid.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 0/0 domino vertically in the purple (=) zone
- 2.Place the 0/5 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone and pink (5) zone
- 3.Place the 2/1 domino horizontally in the navy (5) zone
- 4.Place the 2/5 domino vertically in the navy (5) zone and green (5) zone
- 5.Place the 5/3 domino vertically in the teal (5) zone and orange (=) zone
- 6.Place the 3/0 domino vertically in the orange (=) zone and uncolored (no condition) zone
- 7.Place the 2/2 domino vertically in the teal (=) zone
- 8.Place the 2/6 domino vertically in the teal (=) zone and pink (>5) zone
- 9.Place the 4/5 domino vertically in the teal (=) zone and navy (5) zone
- 10.Place the 1/4 domino vertically in the orange (=) zone and teal (=) zone
- 11.Place the 1/1 domino vertically in the orange (=) zone
- 12.Place the 5/5 domino vertically in the purple (5) zone and navy (5) zone
- 13.Place the 3/2 domino horizontally in the pink (5) zone
- 14.Place the 6/3 domino horizontally in the green (>5) zone and purple (<5) zone
- 15.Place the 6/4 domino vertically in the orange (>5) zone and green (5) zone
- 16.Place the 1/5 domino horizontally in the green (5) zone and purple (5) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge. All three difficulties share the same zone layout and solution, which is unusual for Pips. The challenge is less about escalating complexity and more about clean execution -- you solve the same grid three times.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard -- but only because the identical layout across all three levels creates a psychological trap. If you breeze through Easy and Medium, you might rush Hard and miss a sub-zone boundary. The grid has 18 zone entries across 7 colors, with multiple same-color sub-zones that must be tracked independently.
Our Take: An unusual Saturday where Easy, Medium, and Hard are effectively the same puzzle. This is a rare opportunity to internalize the zone-condition logic through repetition. The trick is not in solving the grid once but in solving it correctly every time without relying on memory from the previous run. Clean, efficient, no surprises.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
