Tuesday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Today's set features a balanced progression from straightforward placements to complex zone interactions, with the Hard puzzle demanding careful domino management across multiple exact-number zones. 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 purple (4) zone - it needs exactly 4 total pips, which will determine your first domino placement.
Key Insight: The pink (=) and teal (=) zones require all dominoes within them to show the same number. Look for domino pairs that can satisfy both these equal zones.
Easy Pips Solution
Scroll past if you want to keep trying
---
---
---
---
---
- 1.Place the 4/6 domino horizontally in the purple (4) zone and pink (=) zone
- 2.Place the 6/0 domino horizontally in the pink (=) zone
- 3.Place the 4/4 domino horizontally in the teal (=) zone
- 4.Place the 1/1 domino horizontally in the orange (3) zone
- 5.Place the 1/6 domino horizontally in the orange (3) zone
Today's Medium Pips
Quick Hints (No Spoilers)
Starting Point: Focus on the purple (4) zone first - it needs exactly 4 total pips and will anchor your initial placements.
Key Insight: The orange (=) zone requires all dominoes to show the same number. Look for dominoes that can bridge between the orange zone and other zones with specific requirements.
Medium Pips Solution
Scroll past if you want to keep trying
---
---
---
---
---
- 1.Place the 1/1 domino horizontally in the purple (4) zone
- 2.Place the 2/2 domino horizontally in the purple (4) zone and pink (<3) zone
- 3.Place the 6/3 domino horizontally in the teal (7) zone and orange (=) zone
- 4.Place the 1/2 domino vertically in the teal (7) zone and green (2) zone
- 5.Place the 3/5 domino vertically in the orange (=) zone and purple (=) zone
- 6.Place the 2/5 domino vertically in the navy (<7) zone and purple (=) zone
- 7.Place the 0/4 domino vertically in the pink (<3) zone and navy (<7) zone
- 8.Place the 5/4 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone and pink (4) zone
Today's Hard Pips
Quick Hints (No Spoilers)
Starting Point: Begin with the purple (4) zone - it needs exactly 4 total pips and connects to multiple other zones.
Key Insight: The pink (=) zone requires all dominoes to show the same number. This will be a key constraint that affects multiple placements.
Watch Out For: Multiple exact-number zones (4, 6, 2, 8, 1, 0, 10, etc.) require precise pip totals. Keep careful track of which dominoes contribute to which zones, especially when dominoes span multiple zones.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
---
---
---
---
---
- 1.Place the 2/0 domino vertically in the purple (4) zone and navy (0) zone
- 2.Place the 2/1 domino vertically in the purple (4) zone and green (1) zone
- 3.Place the 3/1 domino horizontally in the pink (6) zone and teal (2) zone
- 4.Place the 1/4 domino horizontally in the teal (2) zone and orange (8) zone
- 5.Place the 3/0 domino vertically in the pink (6) zone and orange (0) zone
- 6.Place the 5/0 domino horizontally in the purple (10) zone and pink (0) zone
- 7.Place the 4/2 domino vertically in the orange (8) zone and navy (4) zone
- 8.Place the 0/4 domino horizontally in the navy (0) zone and teal (8) zone
- 9.Place the 5/3 domino vertically in the purple (10) zone and pink (=) zone
- 10.Place the 2/3 domino vertically in the navy (4) zone and pink (=) zone
- 11.Place the 2/5 domino vertically in the green (2) zone and orange (10) zone
- 12.Place the 4/3 domino horizontally in the teal (8) zone and pink (=) zone
- 13.Place the 5/1 domino horizontally in the orange (10) zone and navy (2) zone
- 14.Place the 1/0 domino horizontally in the navy (2) zone and green (0) zone
- 15.Place the 4/5 domino vertically in the teal (9) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge with a clear progression from simple to complex.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The multiple exact-number zones (4, 6, 2, 8, 1, 0, 10, 9) require careful domino allocation, and the pink (=) zone creates additional constraints that affect placements across the entire grid.
Our Take: Today's puzzles demonstrate effective difficulty scaling. The Easy puzzle introduces equal zones clearly, Medium adds zone-spanning dominoes with inequality conditions, and Hard demands precise pip management across interconnected exact-number requirements. The pink (=) zone in Hard serves as a clever constraint that forces strategic domino placement decisions.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
