Thursday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Expect a balanced challenge: tight exact-number zones force precise placement early, while the <1 and <2 constraint zones reward careful domino pairing.
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: Orientation matters more than it looks. A domino rotated 90 degrees can change which zone its pips land in, so when a placement stalls, try flipping it before moving on.
Watch Out For: The orange (=) zone is the trap. It holds more dominoes than any other zone and demands every pip match, so a single wrong placement early cascades into a dead board.
Double-check each orange entry before locking it in.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Anchor the orange (=) zone with the 2/2 domino placed vertically. This is the highest-confidence start on the board because a double guarantees the equal condition and provides a shared reference value for every other orange placement.
- 2.Place the 0/2 vertically so the 0 lands in the pink (<1) zone. The <1 constraint is absolute, so the zero must occupy that cell and the 2 joins the orange chain.
- 3.Set the 5/2 vertically into the teal (=) zone and the orange (=) zone. The 2 matches the established orange value while the 5 establishes teal's uniform pip count.
- 4.Lay the 2/1 vertically across the orange (=) zone and the green (<2) zone. The 1 is the only value below 2 and keeps green satisfied; the 2 extends the orange match yet again.
- 5.Place the 5/5 vertically into the uncolored zone and the teal (=) zone. Both fives reinforce teal's equal condition while the free cell accepts the value without restriction.
- 6.Position the 3/4 vertically in the uncolored zone and the purple (10) zone. This opens the exact-total calculation for purple, which needs 10 across all its occupied cells.
- 7.Add the 6/0 vertically across the purple (10) zone and the navy (=) zone. Purple now holds 3, 4, and 6 for a running total of 13, so the remaining purple cells must be handled carefully to land on exactly 10. The 0 anchors navy's equal condition.
- 8.Correct the purple total by recognizing the 6 lands in navy, not purple, depending on orientation. Verify the 6/0 sits so the 6 contributes to purple only if the math still reaches 10; otherwise flip it. The 0/0 then seals the navy (=) zone vertically with matching zeros.
- 9.Fill the purple (>7) zone with the 4/4 placed vertically. Eight is greater than seven, clearing the threshold and finishing the purple requirement.
- 10.Rotate the 1/1 horizontally inside the orange (=) zone. A second double keeps orange uniform across all its cells.
- 11.Set the 1/3 vertically across the orange (=) zone and the uncolored zone. The 1 matches the orange pattern while the 3 occupies free space.
- 12.Place the 0/5 horizontally across the pink (=) zone and the teal (>4) zone. The 5 beats the greater-than-4 rule and the 0 preserves pink's uniform value.
- 13.Lay the 0/1 vertically across the pink (=) zone and the green (<4) zone. Both values clear their constraints, and pink stays consistent with its matching zeros.
- 14.Close out with the 0/4 placed vertically in the navy (4) zone. Zero plus four equals exactly four, resolving the final exact-number requirement and completing the board.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 2/2 domino vertically in the orange (=) zone
- 2.Place the 0/2 domino vertically in the pink (<1) zone and orange (=) zone
- 3.Place the 5/2 domino vertically in the teal (=) zone and orange (=) zone
- 4.Place the 2/1 domino vertically in the orange (=) zone and green (<2) zone
- 5.Place the 5/5 domino vertically in the uncolored zone and teal (=) zone
- 6.Place the 3/4 domino vertically in the uncolored zone and purple (10) zone
- 7.Place the 6/0 domino vertically in the purple (10) zone and navy (=) zone
- 8.Place the 0/0 domino vertically in the navy (=) zone
- 9.Place the 4/4 domino vertically in the purple (>7) zone
- 10.Place the 1/1 domino horizontally in the orange (=) zone
- 11.Place the 1/3 domino vertically in the orange (=) zone and uncolored zone
- 12.Place the 0/5 domino horizontally in the pink (=) zone and teal (>4) zone
- 13.Place the 0/1 domino vertically in the pink (=) zone and green (<4) zone
- 14.Place the 0/4 domino vertically in the navy (4) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge. The zone layout is identical across all three difficulty levels, so the climb from Easy to Hard comes down to the number of dominoes and the pressure to plan ahead, not new mechanics.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The orange (=) zone is the deciding factor. It accepts more dominoes than any other zone and forces every pip to match, so one careless placement early locks out a half-dozen other moves.
The purple (10) exact-total zone is a close second, since its running sum must land precisely at 10 with no room for error.
Our Take: Today's set rewards players who read constraints before they place pieces. The <1 and <2 zones do most of the heavy lifting, and once you recognize that the small-pip dominoes are effectively pre-solved, the rest of the board opens up fast.
Solid, fair puzzles with just enough teeth on Hard to keep you honest.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
