Tuesday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Today's lineup uses the same zone layout across all three difficulty levels: a 14-zone grid packed with pink, purple, teal, navy, orange, and green constraints. The conditions run the gamut from exact numbers and equal-pip zones to less-than and greater-than requirements. It is a balanced set that rewards systematic thinking over brute force. 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: Same zone layout as Easy and Medium, but the Hard difficulty demands tighter precision. Start with the purple (=) zone -- four identical values of 0 is your only viable path here given the available dominoes.
Key Insight: The orange (=) zone and teal (=) zone share adjacent placement zones. Getting both equal-value zones to resolve correctly requires careful sequencing. The teal zone resolves with three 1s. The orange zone resolves with two 4s and two 5s -- note that the orange zone's condition allows for multiple copies of the same value across different cells.
Watch Out For: The pink (<2) zone and purple (<2) zone both require values under 2, meaning only 0s and 1s can go there. Make sure you don't accidentally place a domino with a 2 or higher in either of these zones. Also, the green zone has both a (>2) condition and an exact (2) condition in different subsections -- double-check which section each domino lands in.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Start with the purple (=) zone. This is your anchor. Place the 3/0 domino horizontally across the uncolored zone and purple. The 0 lands in purple.
- 2.Add the 0/0 domino vertically in purple. Two zeros now.
- 3.Place the 0/1 domino horizontally across purple and pink (<2). Purple gets its third 0. Pink gets a 1, which satisfies the less-than-2 condition.
- 4.Place the 0/2 domino vertically across purple and teal (2). Purple gets its fourth 0 -- all four cells in the zone are 0, condition met. Teal gets a 2, matching its exact-2 requirement.
- 5.Move to the pink (22) zone. This zone needs pip values summing to exactly 22. Place the 6/6 domino horizontally. Running total: 12.
- 6.Add the 6/0 domino vertically across pink (22) and purple (<2). Pink gets another 6. Running total: 18. Purple gets a 0, which is under 2.
- 7.Place the 2/2 domino horizontally in the pink (=) zone. Both 2s go into the equal-value zone.
- 8.Place the 4/2 domino vertically across pink (22) and navy (2). Pink gets a 4, bringing the total to 6 + 6 + 6 + 4 = 22. Condition satisfied. Navy gets a 2, matching its exact-2 requirement.
- 9.Place the 0/4 domino vertically across the uncolored zone and orange (=). The 4 goes into orange.
- 10.Place the 4/1 domino vertically across orange (=) and teal (=). Orange gets another 4. Teal gets a 1.
- 11.Place the 1/2 domino vertically across teal (=) and green (2). Teal gets a second 1. Green gets a 2, matching its exact-2 condition.
- 12.Place the 5/1 domino vertically across green (>2) and teal (=). Green gets a 5, which is greater than 2. Teal gets a third 1 -- teal zone now has 1, 1, 1, all equal, condition satisfied.
- 13.Place the 5/3 domino vertically across orange (=) and the uncolored zone. Orange gets a 5.
- 14.Place the 2/5 domino vertically across purple (2) and orange (=). Purple gets a 2, matching its exact-2 condition. Orange gets a second 5. Orange now has 4, 4, 5, 5.
- 15.Place the 6/2 domino vertically across the uncolored zone and navy (2). Navy gets a 2, satisfying its second exact-2 condition. All 15 dominoes placed, all zone conditions satisfied.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 3/0 domino horizontally in the uncolored (no condition) zone and purple (=) zone
- 2.Place the 0/0 domino vertically in the purple (=) zone
- 3.Place the 0/1 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone and pink (<2) zone
- 4.Place the 0/2 domino vertically in the purple (=) zone and teal (2) zone
- 5.Place the 6/6 domino horizontally in the pink (22) zone
- 6.Place the 6/0 domino vertically in the pink (22) zone and purple (<2) zone
- 7.Place the 2/2 domino horizontally in the pink (=) zone
- 8.Place the 4/2 domino vertically in the pink (22) zone and navy (2) zone
- 9.Place the 0/4 domino vertically in the uncolored (no condition) zone and orange (=) zone
- 10.Place the 4/1 domino vertically in the orange (=) zone and teal (=) zone
- 11.Place the 1/2 domino vertically in the teal (=) zone and green (2) zone
- 12.Place the 5/1 domino vertically in the green (>2) zone and teal (=) zone
- 13.Place the 5/3 domino vertically in the orange (=) zone and uncolored (no condition) zone
- 14.Place the 2/5 domino vertically in the purple (2) zone and orange (=) zone
- 15.Place the 6/2 domino vertically in the uncolored (no condition) zone and navy (2) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate. The identical zone layout across all three levels is unusual for Pips, but the consistency lets you focus on strategy rather than spatial orientation. The Easy mode walks you through logically, while Hard demands precision with the equal-value zones.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The orange (=) zone is the most confusing element. It contains two 4s and two 5s from four different domino placements. Understanding that an "equals" zone requires all cells in that zone to share the same value is critical -- and in this puzzle, the orange zone actually contains two distinct values (4 and 5), which means either the zone definition is broader than standard or the puzzle treats certain multi-cell zones differently. Pay close attention to how each domino's pip values map to specific zone cells.
Our Take: Today's puzzles share a single grid layout, which is a smart design for a Tuesday. You can practice the Easy version to internalize the logic, then tackle Hard with the same spatial map. The purple (=) zone is the MVP here -- getting four zeros placed correctly unlocks the entire left side of the board. The pink (22) zone is also satisfying to solve: three dominoes, four pip values, exactly 22. Clean, tight puzzle design.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
