Sunday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Today's grid runs heavy on equal-value and exact-number zones, with the constraint-heavy teal and navy conditions dominating the board. 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 navy (<3) zone can only take 0, 1, or 2, so the 5/0 and 0/2 dominoes are your only options for that corner. Reserve a low value for it before committing elsewhere.
Watch Out For: The teal (>5) and teal (<5) zones bookend the same 6/2 domino family, and it's easy to flip the 6 into the wrong teal zone. Also, the purple (0) zone must hold a 0, so don't burn your zeros before that corner is placed.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Begin with the 0/0 double placed vertically across the purple (<3) zone and the orange (0) zone. This is your only guaranteed zero-to-zero link, and it locks two low conditions instantly.
- 2.Play the 1/6 horizontally so the 1 holds the purple (<3) zone while the 6 parks in a free zone. Save the 6 for the teal (>5) zone later.
- 3.Place the 5/2 vertically in the teal (5) zone and the navy (=) zone. The teal (5) zone demands a total of exactly 5, so the 5/2 split satisfies it on the spot.
- 4.Run the 2/3 horizontally through the navy (=) zone into a free zone, giving the equal system a 2 to anchor.
- 5.Drop the 6/2 horizontally into the teal (>5) zone, the exclusive home for a 6, with the 2 reaching into the navy (=) zone.
- 6.Place the 2/1 vertically so the 2 fills the navy (=) zone and the 1 opens the orange (=) zone. This keeps the equal-value zones aligned at a shared value.
- 7.Play the 1/1 double to close the orange (=) zone at a constant 1, matching the value established by the 2/1 placement.
- 8.Set the 4/1 horizontally across the teal (<5) zone and the orange (=) zone. The 4 keeps the teal zone under 5 and extends the orange (=) run.
- 9.Place the 3/3 double across a free zone and the pink (3) zone, hitting the exact total of 3.
- 10.Drop the 3/6 vertically so the 3 lands in the green (3) zone and the 6 reaches the orange (=) zone.
- 11.Slide the 6/4 horizontally across the orange (=) zone and into the purple (>3) zone, where the 4 clears the greater-than-3 requirement.
- 12.Play the 3/5 horizontally to satisfy the navy (3) zone and the green (5) zone in one move, the only domino that covers both exact-number targets.
- 13.Place the 5/0 vertically so the 5 lands in the purple (5) zone and the 0 lands in the navy (<3) zone, the only legal home for that zero.
- 14.Run the 0/2 horizontally through the pink (0) zone into a free zone, satisfying the zero total.
- 15.Drop the 3/1 vertically so the 3 lands in the green (3) zone and the 1 lands in the pink (=) zone, extending the pink equal-value run.
- 16.Close with the 0/1 horizontally across the purple (0) zone and the pink (=) zone, sealing the final zero and the final equal cell.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 0/0 domino vertically in the purple (<3) zone and orange (0) zone
- 2.Place the 1/6 domino horizontally in the purple (<3) zone and uncolored (no condition) zone
- 3.Place the 5/2 domino vertically in the teal (5) zone and navy (=) zone
- 4.Place the 2/3 domino horizontally in the navy (=) zone and uncolored (no condition) zone
- 5.Place the 6/2 domino horizontally in the teal (>5) zone and navy (=) zone
- 6.Place the 2/1 domino vertically in the navy (=) zone and orange (=) zone
- 7.Place the 1/1 domino horizontally in the orange (=) zone
- 8.Place the 4/1 domino horizontally in the teal (<5) zone and orange (=) zone
- 9.Place the 3/3 domino horizontally in the uncolored (no condition) zone and pink (3) zone
- 10.Place the 3/6 domino vertically in the green (3) zone and orange (=) zone
- 11.Place the 6/4 domino horizontally in the orange (=) zone and purple (>3) zone
- 12.Place the 3/5 domino horizontally in the navy (3) zone and green (5) zone
- 13.Place the 5/0 domino vertically in the purple (5) zone and navy (<3) zone
- 14.Place the 0/2 domino horizontally in the pink (0) zone and uncolored (no condition) zone
- 15.Place the 3/1 domino vertically in the green (3) zone and pink (=) zone
- 16.Place the 0/1 domino horizontally in the purple (0) zone and pink (=) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge. The board runs compact with heavy double-duty dominoes, so the difficulty comes less from volume and more from sequencing the equal-value and exact-number zones correctly.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The three navy (=) zones and two linked equal zones force you to keep a single value consistent across multiple placements. Misplace the 6/2 or the 5/0 early and the navy (<3) and teal (>5) corners both collapse.
Our Take: Today's grid rewards players who read the extreme values first. The 6 belongs to the teal (>5) zone, the zeros belong to the purple (0) and navy (<3) corners, and once those anchors are set the dominoes chain cleanly. Easy and Medium share the same board, so treat Easy as a warm-up and reuse the logic on Hard with tighter sequencing.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
