Thursday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Today's set features a balanced progression from straightforward zone logic to complex multi-zone constraints. 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 orange (>11) zone - it needs the highest total value.
Key Insight: The pink (=) zone requires both domino halves to match, which will dictate your placement in the teal (<4) zone.
Easy Pips Solution
Scroll past if you want to keep trying
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- 1.Place the 5/2 domino horizontally in the purple (>4) zone
- 2.Place the 2/3 domino horizontally in the teal (<4) zone and pink (=) zone
- 3.Place the 0/6 domino vertically in the orange (>11) zone
- 4.Place the 2/6 domino vertically in the pink (=) zone and orange (>11) zone
Today's Medium Pips
Quick Hints (No Spoilers)
Starting Point: Look at the purple (3) zone first - it needs an exact total of 3.
Key Insight: The orange (=), navy (=), and green (=) zones all require uniform values, creating a chain of constraints.
Medium Pips Solution
Scroll past if you want to keep trying
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- 1.Place the 0/0 domino horizontally in the purple (3) zone
- 2.Place the 3/3 domino horizontally in the purple (3) zone and orange (=) zone
- 3.Place the 0/6 domino horizontally in the pink (12) zone
- 4.Place the 6/5 domino horizontally in the pink (12) zone and teal (>4) zone
- 5.Place the 3/1 domino horizontally in the orange (=) zone and navy (=) zone
- 6.Place the 2/2 domino vertically in the green (=) zone
- 7.Place the 1/5 domino vertically in the navy (=) zone and purple (>4) zone
Today's Hard Pips
Quick Hints (No Spoilers)
Starting Point: Begin with the pink (1) zone - it needs exactly 1 total pip.
Key Insight: Multiple exact number zones (like purple 18, pink 15, green 8) will determine your high-value domino placements.
Watch Out For: The purple (<2) zone only accepts 0 or 1 values, and the teal (8) zone connects to multiple other zones creating complex dependencies.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 1/2 domino vertically in the pink (1) zone and teal (8) zone
- 2.Place the 3/2 domino vertically in the purple (=) zone and teal (8) zone
- 3.Place the 3/3 domino vertically in the purple (=) zone
- 4.Place the 4/0 domino vertically in the teal (8) zone and orange (=) zone
- 5.Place the 0/0 domino horizontally in the orange (=) zone
- 6.Place the 4/3 domino horizontally in the pink (15) zone and teal (3) zone
- 7.Place the 1/1 domino vertically in the navy (=) zone
- 8.Place the 0/1 domino horizontally in the orange (=) zone and navy (=) zone
- 9.Place the 6/3 domino vertically in the green (8) zone and orange (7) zone
- 10.Place the 2/6 domino horizontally in the green (8) zone and purple (18) zone
- 11.Place the 6/6 domino vertically in the purple (18) zone
- 12.Place the 5/2 domino horizontally in the pink (15) zone and green (4) zone
- 13.Place the 6/5 domino vertically in the pink (15) zone and teal (5) zone
- 14.Place the 2/4 domino horizontally in the green (4) zone and orange (7) zone
- 15.Place the 0/5 domino vertically in the purple (<2) zone and orange (5) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge with clear progression
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The web of exact number requirements creates tight constraints that require careful domino sequencing.
Our Take: Today's puzzles demonstrate excellent difficulty scaling. The Easy puzzle teaches zone interaction basics, Medium introduces exact number constraints, and Hard demands strategic domino allocation across interconnected exact-value zones. The purple (<2) zone in Hard provides a clever restriction that forces low-value domino placement.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
