Tuesday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. All three difficulties share the same zone grid and solution, so the real test is reading the conditions in the right order.
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
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge. All three difficulty levels share the same zone grid and solution, so the puzzle rewards methodical reading of the conditions over brute-force trial and error.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The orange (8) zone is the trap. It reads like a threshold but demands an exact total of 8, and only the 6/2 domino lands there.
Stack a different piece and the whole grid unravels.
Our Take: This is a clean constraint-stacking set. The two equality zones -- navy at 1 and teal at 4 -- do most of the heavy lifting, and once you pin those down the thresholds fall into place.
The identical solution across difficulties makes a solid confidence builder: crack the logic once on Easy and you've cracked all three.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
