Tuesday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Today's lineup offers a solid midweek challenge with plenty of exact-number and equal-condition zones that reward careful planning. The grid is dense with color-coded constraints, making domino placement a satisfying logic exercise. 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: Zero-value zones are your most restrictive constraints. Identify every zone with an exact 0 condition and place dominoes with 0 halves there first.
Key Insight: The equal-condition zones (navy =, green =) act as a vertical pipeline. Every domino spanning these two zones must contribute identical values to maintain the equality. This creates a cascading constraint that affects multiple adjacent zones.
Watch Out For: The green (7) zone requires careful tracking -- it must total exactly 7 across multiple domino halves. Don't overshoot it. The teal (7) zone is similarly tight. Count your pip values before committing.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Purple (0) and navy (5) are adjacent. Place the 0/5 domino vertically -- the 0 half locks in purple's zero condition immediately. The 5 half satisfies navy's exact-5 requirement. This is your most constrained placement and should be first.
- 2.Pink (0) and green (7) share a vertical boundary. Place the 0/1 domino vertically. The 0 handles pink's zero. The 1 goes into green (7), which needs a total of 7. You'll need 6 more pips in green across remaining placements.
- 3.Teal (2) and orange (0) are horizontally adjacent. Place the 2/0 domino horizontally. The 2 satisfies teal's condition. The 0 satisfies orange's zero. Clean and efficient.
- 4.Pink (3) and teal (5) are horizontally adjacent. Place the 3/5 domino horizontally. Both exact-number conditions satisfied immediately.
- 5.Green (7) still needs 6 more pips (you placed a 1 earlier). Orange (3) needs exactly 3. Place the 6/3 domino vertically -- the 6 goes into green, bringing green's total to 1+6=7. The 3 satisfies orange (3). Green (7) is now complete.
- 6.Purple (4) and navy (0) are vertically adjacent. Place the 4/0 domino vertically. Both exact-number conditions satisfied.
- 7.Green (3) is adjacent to an uncolored zone with no condition. Place the 3/0 domino vertically -- the 3 satisfies green (3), and the 0 goes into the free space. No condition to worry about there.
- 8.Purple (2) and orange (1) are vertically adjacent. Place the 2/1 domino vertically. Both exact-number conditions satisfied.
- 9.Pink (4) and teal (3) are horizontally adjacent. Place the 4/3 domino horizontally. Both exact-number conditions satisfied.
- 10.Now handle the equal-condition zones. Navy (=) and green (=) are vertically adjacent. Place the 5/2 domino vertically. Navy now contains a 5, green contains a 2. These become the baseline values for each equal-condition column.
- 11.Navy (=) needs all values to match (5). Purple (4) needs exactly 4. Place the 5/4 domino vertically -- navy gets another 5 (matching), purple (4) is satisfied.
- 12.Green (=) needs all values to match (2). Pink (4) needs exactly 4. Place the 2/4 domino vertically -- green gets another 2 (matching), pink (4) is satisfied.
- 13.Green (=) needs a third 2. Teal (7) needs a total of 7. Place the 2/3 domino vertically -- green gets its matching 2, teal (7) gets a 3. Track teal's running total.
- 14.Green (1) needs exactly 1. Teal (7) still needs more pips. Place the 1/4 domino horizontally -- green (1) satisfied. Teal (7) gets the 4. Running total for teal (7): 2 (from step 3) + 5 (from step 4) + 3 (from step 13) + 4 (from this step) + 1 (from step 15) = ... wait, let's recount. Teal zones: teal (2) had 2, teal (5) had 5, teal (3) had 3, teal (7) gets 4 from this domino and 1 from step 15. That's fine -- teal (7) is a separate zone cell.
- 15.Orange (1) and purple (5) are vertically adjacent. Place the 1/5 domino vertically. Both exact-number conditions satisfied.
- 16.Navy (1) and pink (3) are vertically adjacent. Place the 1/3 domino vertically. Both exact-number conditions satisfied. All 16 dominoes placed, all conditions met.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
---
---
---
---
---
- 1.Place the 0/5 domino vertically in purple (0) zone and navy (5) zone
- 2.Place the 0/1 domino vertically in pink (0) zone and green (7) zone
- 3.Place the 2/0 domino horizontally in teal (2) zone and orange (0) zone
- 4.Place the 3/5 domino horizontally in pink (3) zone and teal (5) zone
- 5.Place the 6/3 domino vertically in green (7) zone and orange (3) zone
- 6.Place the 4/0 domino vertically in purple (4) zone and navy (0) zone
- 7.Place the 3/0 domino vertically in green (3) zone and uncolored (no condition) zone
- 8.Place the 2/1 domino vertically in purple (2) zone and orange (1) zone
- 9.Place the 4/3 domino horizontally in pink (4) zone and teal (3) zone
- 10.Place the 5/2 domino vertically in navy (=) zone and green (=) zone
- 11.Place the 5/4 domino vertically in navy (=) zone and purple (4) zone
- 12.Place the 2/4 domino vertically in green (=) zone and pink (4) zone
- 13.Place the 2/3 domino vertically in green (=) zone and teal (7) zone
- 14.Place the 1/4 domino horizontally in green (1) zone and teal (7) zone
- 15.Place the 1/5 domino vertically in orange (1) zone and purple (5) zone
- 16.Place the 1/3 domino vertically in navy (1) zone and pink (3) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate. The three difficulty levels share the same grid layout, but the challenge scales with how much guidance you get. Easy gives you the clearest logical path. Medium removes some scaffolding. Hard drops you in with minimal hints and tighter pip-counting requirements.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The equal-condition zones (navy =, green =) create a cascading constraint that affects four adjacent zones simultaneously. One misstep in the chain and multiple conditions break. The teal (7) zone also demands careful pip tracking since it receives domino halves from multiple directions.
Our Take: Today's set is a solid midweek workout. The dual equal-condition columns are the standout feature -- they force you to think in vertical chains rather than isolated placements. The puzzle rewards players who scan the full grid before placing their first domino. A satisfying solve that doesn't overstay its welcome.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
