Thursday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles with a clean, satisfying layout. The zone conditions across all three difficulties follow similar patterns of equality and numeric constraints, making this a solid midweek challenge with a focus on careful domino orientation.
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 equals zones (purple and green) are your logical anchors. Determine the shared value for each before placing any other dominoes.
Key Insight: The navy (>10) zone spans multiple cells and requires careful pip management. Check which domino combinations sum above 10 while still satisfying adjacent zone conditions.
Watch Out For: The two teal zones have different exact totals (9 and 10). It is easy to mix them up under pressure. Verify each teal zone's total before finalizing placement.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Anchor the puzzle with the purple (=) zone. Place the 4/1 domino horizontally so the 4 sits in the purple zone, establishing 4 as the equal value for all purple cells.
- 2.Place the 4/6 domino vertically with the 4 in the purple (=) zone, matching the established target value. The 6 extends into the navy (>10) zone.
- 3.Move to the green (=) zone. Place the 2/1 domino vertically with the 1 in green, establishing 1 as the green zone's equal value. The 2 goes into the pink (2) zone, satisfying that exact requirement immediately.
- 4.Place the 6/1 domino vertically with the 1 in green (=), matching the established value. The 6 goes into navy (>10), which now totals 6 + 6 = 12, exceeding the threshold.
- 5.Place the 1/1 domino vertically in the green (=) zone. Both cells show 1, completing the zone.
- 6.Address the orange (>0) zone. Place the 0/3 domino horizontally with the 3 in orange (>0). The 0 goes into the uncolored zone with no condition.
- 7.Place the 1/4 domino vertically with the 1 in green (=) and the 4 in teal (9).
- 8.Place the 0/5 domino vertically with the 0 in uncolored and the 5 in teal (9). Teal (9) totals 4 + 5 = 9.
- 9.Place the 5/5 domino horizontally in the teal (10) zone. Both cells show 5, totaling exactly 10.
- 10.Place the 1/5 domino vertically. The 1 goes into orange (7) and the 5 goes into purple (10).
- 11.Place the 6/2 domino vertically. The 6 goes into orange (7), which together with the 1 from the previous step totals 7. The 2 goes into pink (4).
- 12.Place the 5/2 domino horizontally. The 5 goes into purple (10), totaling 5 + 5 = 10. The 2 goes into pink (4), totaling 2 + 2 = 4. All conditions satisfied.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 4/1 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone and pink (2) zone
- 2.Place the 4/6 domino vertically in the purple (=) zone and navy (>10) zone
- 3.Place the 2/1 domino vertically in the pink (2) zone and green (=) zone
- 4.Place the 6/1 domino vertically in the navy (>10) zone and green (=) zone
- 5.Place the 1/1 domino vertically in the green (=) zone
- 6.Place the 0/3 domino horizontally in the uncolored (no condition) zone and orange (>0) zone
- 7.Place the 1/4 domino vertically in the green (=) zone and teal (9) zone
- 8.Place the 0/5 domino vertically in the uncolored (no condition) zone and teal (9) zone
- 9.Place the 5/5 domino horizontally in the teal (10) zones
- 10.Place the 1/5 domino vertically in the orange (7) zone and purple (10) zone
- 11.Place the 6/2 domino vertically in the orange (7) zone and pink (4) zone
- 12.Place the 5/2 domino horizontally in the purple (10) zone and pink (4) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge - the zone conditions are straightforward, but the interplay between the equals zones and exact-value zones requires careful domino orientation planning.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - while the zone layout mirrors the easier difficulties, the increased domino count and tighter constraints demand more backtracking if you place a domino in the wrong orientation early on.
Our Take: Thursday's set rewards players who start with the equals zones and work outward. The navy (>10) and teal exact-value zones create interesting bottlenecks that test your ability to track partial sums across multiple placements. A clean, satisfying solve once you establish the right anchor values.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
