Sunday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Today's set features a mix of exact number requirements and equality constraints that will test your domino placement logic. 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
Quick Hints (No Spoilers)
Starting Point: Begin with the purple (4) and pink (4) zones - these exact number requirements give you clear placement options.
Key Insight: The teal (=) zone connects multiple placements and will need consistent values across all dominoes that touch it.
Easy Pips Solution
Scroll past if you want to keep trying
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- 1.Place the 4/6 domino vertically in the purple (4) zone and teal (=) zone
- 2.Place the 4/3 domino vertically in the pink (4) zone and orange (=) zone
- 3.Place the 6/0 domino vertically in the teal (=) zone and green (0) zone
- 4.Place the 2/3 domino horizontally in the navy (2) zone and orange (=) zone
- 5.Place the 5/1 domino horizontally in the pink (5) zone and teal (=) zone
- 6.Place the 0/1 domino vertically in the purple (0) zone and teal (=) zone
Today's Medium Pips
Quick Hints (No Spoilers)
Starting Point: Look at the purple (=) zone - it's a standalone equality zone that can only accept certain dominoes.
Key Insight: The pink (4) and pink (<4) zones are adjacent - plan your domino placements to satisfy both conditions simultaneously.
Medium Pips Solution
Scroll past if you want to keep trying
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- 1.Place the 2/2 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone
- 2.Place the 4/1 domino horizontally in the pink (4) zone and teal (3) zone
- 3.Place the 2/3 domino vertically in the teal (3) zone and green (3) zone
- 4.Place the 3/4 domino horizontally in the orange (3) zone and navy (=) zone
- 5.Place the 4/6 domino horizontally in the navy (=) zone and purple (=) zone
- 6.Place the 0/6 domino vertically in the pink (4) zone and purple (=) zone
- 7.Place the 2/1 domino horizontally in the pink (<4) zone
Today's Hard Pips
Quick Hints (No Spoilers)
Starting Point: Begin with the purple (9) and pink (4) zones - these exact number requirements will anchor your solution.
Key Insight: The teal (=) zones appear twice - they must have consistent values across all connected dominoes.
Watch Out For: The orange zones have different requirements (12 and 3) - don't mix them up. Also, the navy zones have different values (2 and 4) - plan your placements carefully.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 4/2 domino horizontally in the purple (9) zone and pink (4) zone
- 2.Place the 2/1 domino vertically in the pink (4) zone and navy (2) zone
- 3.Place the 0/6 domino horizontally in the teal (=) zone and orange (12) zone
- 4.Place the 5/1 domino horizontally in the purple (9) zone and navy (2) zone
- 5.Place the 3/3 domino horizontally in the green (6) zone
- 6.Place the 0/5 domino vertically in the teal (=) zone and purple (=) zone
- 7.Place the 6/2 domino vertically in the orange (12) zone and pink (5) zone
- 8.Place the 5/3 domino vertically in the teal (11) zone and orange (3) zone
- 9.Place the 6/1 domino vertically in the teal (11) zone and navy (4) zone
- 10.Place the 5/5 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone
- 11.Place the 1/1 domino horizontally in the navy (4) zone
- 12.Place the 3/1 domino vertically in the pink (5) zone and navy (4) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge with increasing complexity across levels.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The multiple teal zones with different requirements (equality vs. exact number) and duplicate color zones with different values created significant logical constraints.
Our Take: Today's puzzles effectively teach zone differentiation - same colors with different conditions require careful planning. The Hard puzzle's dual teal zones (one equality, one exact number) was a clever twist that forced systematic thinking. Medium's adjacent pink zones with different conditions (4 and <4) provided a nice intermediate challenge.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
