Thursday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles with a consistent layout across all three difficulty levels. The same zone configuration appears in Easy, Medium, and Hard, but the challenge escalates through tighter constraints and fewer obvious starting points. 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 (0) zone is your only guaranteed lock. Place the 0/0 domino here and use it as a reference point for the surrounding zones.
Key Insight: The orange (11) and orange (5) zones share dominoes with green zones. Track every value carefully because a single misplaced domino cascades errors through multiple conditions.
Watch Out For: The teal zone has three conditions (4, 0, and 4) that must all be satisfied simultaneously. Misplacing the 4/3 or 1/4 domino in the wrong teal subzone is the most common mistake on this board.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Place the 0/0 domino vertically in the green (0) zone. This is non-negotiable. No other domino sums to zero, so this is your only starting option.
- 2.Place the 6/0 domino vertically so it crosses into the orange (11) zone and the green (0) zone. The 0 stays in green's zero zone. The 6 starts building orange's total. You still need 5 more from other dominoes to reach 11.
- 3.Place the 1/5 domino vertically across the uncolored zone and the orange (11) zone. The 1 and 5 add to the 6 already in orange, giving you 6 + 1 + 5 = 12. That's one over, so the 0/3 domino placed next will balance things out.
- 4.Place the 0/3 domino vertically in the green (0) zone and the orange (5) zone. The 0 satisfies green. The 3 goes into orange (5), not orange (11). Now orange (11) has 6 + 1 + 5 = 12, but the next step corrects this.
- 5.Place the 2/1 domino vertically in the orange (5) zone and the green (13) zone. The 2 adds to the 3 already in orange (5), giving exactly 5. The 1 starts green's count toward 13.
- 6.Place the 6/6 domino horizontally in the green (13) zone. This adds 12 to the 1 already in green, giving exactly 13. The green and orange zones are now solved.
- 7.Place the 3/3 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone. Both values match, satisfying the equality condition.
- 8.Place the 6/5 domino horizontally across the navy (>4) zone and the pink (=) zone. Both 6 and 5 exceed 4, satisfying navy. Both values match in pink, satisfying equality.
- 9.Place the 5/5 domino vertically in the pink (=) zone. Matching values, no complications.
- 10.Place the 6/4 domino vertically in the purple (>4) zone and the pink (=) zone. Both values exceed 4 for purple. Both values match for pink.
- 11.Place the 4/0 domino horizontally in the pink (=) zone and the teal (0) zone. The 4 and 0 match in pink. The 0 satisfies teal's zero condition.
- 12.Place the 4/3 domino vertically in the pink (=) zone and the teal (4) zone. Both values match in pink. The 3 goes into teal (4), where it will combine with the 1 from the next placement to total exactly 4.
- 13.Place the 2/0 domino horizontally in the navy (<4) zone and the teal (0) zone. Both 2 and 0 are below 4 for navy. The 0 satisfies teal's second zero zone.
- 14.Place the 1/4 domino vertically in the teal (4) zone and the uncolored zone. The 1 adds to the 3 from the 4/3 domino, giving teal (4) exactly 4.
- 15.Place the 2/4 domino horizontally in the uncolored zone and the purple (4) zone. The 2 and 4 total exactly 4 for purple's exact-number condition.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 0/0 domino vertically in the green (0) zone
- 2.Place the 6/0 domino vertically in the orange (11) zone and green (0) zone
- 3.Place the 1/5 domino vertically in the uncolored (no condition) zone and orange (11) zone
- 4.Place the 0/3 domino vertically in the green (0) zone and orange (5) zone
- 5.Place the 2/1 domino vertically in the orange (5) zone and green (13) zone
- 6.Place the 6/6 domino horizontally in the green (13) zone
- 7.Place the 3/3 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone
- 8.Place the 6/5 domino horizontally in the navy (>4) zone and pink (=) zone
- 9.Place the 5/5 domino vertically in the pink (=) zone
- 10.Place the 6/4 domino vertically in the purple (>4) zone and pink (=) zone
- 11.Place the 4/0 domino horizontally in the pink (=) zone and teal (0) zone
- 12.Place the 4/3 domino vertically in the pink (=) zone and teal (4) zone
- 13.Place the 2/0 domino horizontally in the navy (<4) zone and teal (0) zone
- 14.Place the 1/4 domino vertically in the teal (4) zone and uncolored (no condition) zone
- 15.Place the 2/4 domino horizontally in the uncolored (no condition) zone and purple (4) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge. The zone layout is identical across all three difficulty levels, which is unusual. The real difficulty comes from the tighter constraints in Medium and Hard, where you have fewer obvious entry points and must track cross-zone totals more carefully.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The teal zone with three sub-conditions (4, 0, and 4) is the most error-prone section. Placing the 4/3 and 1/4 dominoes in the correct teal subzones requires careful tracking of running totals. One mistake here forces a full restart.
Our Take: Today's set is a solid midweek workout. The shared zone layout across all three difficulties makes it a good day to practice the same strategy at escalating precision levels. The orange and green zones lock in early, but the teal and purple zones demand real attention to detail. Clean placement order is everything.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
