Sunday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Today's lineup delivers a consistent challenge across all three difficulty levels with the same zone layout but shifting strategic demands. 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)
Starting Point: The green (17) zone is the most restrictive high-value zone. Only 6/6 + 6/5 or 6/6 + 5/6 configurations work for that total. Lock this in first.
Key Insight: The purple (not-equal) zone and orange (equal) zone create a critical constraint chain. The orange (=) zone forces both its dominoes to share a common value, which then limits what can go in purple (not-equal).
Watch Out For: The pink (<3) zone and orange (<2) zone are easy to misplace. Double-check that your low-value domino halves (0, 1) are reserved for these restrictive zones. If you use a 1 somewhere it does not belong, you will not be able to backfill these zones.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Start by analyzing the zone constraints. Purple (6) appears twice, meaning two domino halves must equal 6 in that color. Orange (6) also needs a 6. The 6/3 domino is the natural fit: place it vertically so 6 lands in purple (6) and 3 lands in orange (6).
- 2.Place 3/1 vertically below the first domino. The 3 goes into orange (6) to help satisfy that zone, and the 1 lands in pink (1), which requires exactly 1 pip. This is the only placement that works for pink (1).
- 3.Navy (14) requires exactly 14 pips across two domino slots. Place 0/4 vertically so 0 goes into pink (<3) and 4 goes into navy (14). Then place 5/5 horizontally entirely inside navy (14). Total: 4 + 5 + 5 = 14. Verified.
- 4.Place 5/0 vertically across teal (5) and green (1). The 5 satisfies teal (5) and the 0 satisfies green (1). Then place 1/2 vertically across green (1) and teal (<4). The 2 is less than 4, satisfying teal (<4).
- 5.Place 5/6 horizontally in the purple (not-equal) zone. Since all values in this zone must differ, and the only other domino in this zone is 4/2 (placed later), 5 and 6 are safe.
- 6.Place 2/2 horizontally in the orange (equal) zone. This zone requires all pips to be the same number. With 2/2, you have two 2s. Then place 2/6 vertically so the 2 extends the orange (=) zone and the 6 crosses into teal (14). Place 4/4 vertically in teal (14). Teal (14) now has 6 + 4 + 4 = 14.
- 7.Place 4/2 horizontally across purple (>3) and pink (2). The 4 is greater than 3, and the 2 matches pink's exact requirement. Place 0/2 horizontally across orange (<2) and navy (2). The 0 is less than 2, and the 2 matches navy's exact value.
- 8.Place 3/5 horizontally across navy (3) and green (17). Place 6/6 vertically in green (17). Green (17) now has 5 + 6 + 6 = 17.
- 9.Place 3/3 vertically in purple (6). This gives purple (6) a total of 6 from the 6/3 domino plus 3 + 3 = 6 from this domino, satisfying both purple (6) zones.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 6/3 domino vertically in the purple (6) zone and orange (6) zone
- 2.Place the 3/1 domino vertically in the orange (6) zone and pink (1) zone
- 3.Place the 0/4 domino vertically in the pink (<3) zone and navy (14) zone
- 4.Place the 5/5 domino horizontally in the navy (14) zone
- 5.Place the 5/0 domino vertically in the teal (5) zone and green (1) zone
- 6.Place the 1/2 domino vertically in the green (1) zone and teal (<4) zone
- 7.Place the 5/6 domino horizontally in the purple (not-equal) zone
- 8.Place the 2/2 domino horizontally in the orange (equal) zone
- 9.Place the 2/6 domino vertically in the orange (equal) zone and teal (14) zone
- 10.Place the 4/4 domino vertically in the teal (14) zone
- 11.Place the 4/2 domino horizontally in the purple (>3) zone and pink (2) zone
- 12.Place the 0/2 domino horizontally in the orange (<2) zone and navy (2) zone
- 13.Place the 3/5 domino horizontally in the navy (3) zone and green (17) zone
- 14.Place the 6/6 domino vertically in the green (17) zone
- 15.Place the 3/3 domino vertically in the purple (6) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge across all three tiers. The zone layout is identical for Easy, Medium, and Hard, but the strategic pressure ratchets up as the number of available dominoes shifts.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The restrictive low-value zones (pink <3, orange <2) create a bottleneck that punishes misplacement. If you burn a 0 or 1 early in a non-restrictive zone, you will hit a dead end and need to backtrack.
Our Take: Today's puzzles reward systematic constraint analysis over brute-force trial and error. The green (17) zone and navy (14) zone act as natural anchors, and once you lock those totals in, the rest of the grid falls into place with surprising elegance. A satisfying Sunday solve for players who like methodical deduction.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
