Tuesday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles with a dense, multi-zone grid that rewards careful counting over guesswork. The same layout repeats across all three difficulties, but the placement logic tightens as you climb. 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: The teal equals zone is your highest-constraint anchor. Solve it first to reduce the branching possibilities across the rest of the grid.
Key Insight: The orange greater-than-6 zone and the pink equals zone together eliminate most low-value dominoes from contention. You are effectively forced into using 3/4 and 3/3 respectively.
Watch Out For: The purple (0) zone and orange (0) zone both demand exactly zero, but they sit on opposite sides of the grid. Do not commit your only zero-valued pip to one side without verifying the other zone can still be satisfied.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Start with the teal equals zone. Place the 6/6 domino horizontally. This is the only double-six domino available, and it satisfies the equals condition immediately. This choice also reserves a 6 for any adjacent zone that needs it.
- 2.Place the 0/6 domino vertically, bridging the purple (0) zone and the teal (=) zone. The 0 satisfies purple's exact-zero requirement, and the 6 integrates with the teal zone's equals condition. This placement uses one of your two zero pips, so keep track of the other.
- 3.Place the 3/3 domino vertically in the pink equals zone. All pips here must equal 3, and the double-three domino is the only way to satisfy this without introducing a different pip value.
- 4.Place the 3/4 domino vertically in the orange (>6) zone. The sum of 7 exceeds the threshold. No other domino combination summing to 6 or less can go here, so this placement is locked.
- 5.Place the 2/1 domino vertically in the purple (2) zone and navy (6) zone. The 2 satisfies purple's exact-2 condition, and the 1 contributes to navy's exact-6 total alongside other dominoes that will share that zone.
- 6.Place the 2/2 domino vertically in the pink (2) zone and green (2) zone. Both zones require exactly 2, and the double-two domino satisfies both simultaneously.
- 7.Place the 2/6 domino vertically in the teal (2) zone and green (6) zone. The 2 satisfies teal's exact-2, and the 6 satisfies green's exact-6.
- 8.Place the 2/4 domino vertically in the teal (6) zone. The sum of 6 satisfies the exact-6 condition. This zone sits alone, so no bridging is required.
- 9.Place the 1/1 domino vertically in the orange (6) zone. Sum of 2 contributes toward the exact-6 total. Other dominoes will fill the remaining value.
- 10.Place the 1/6 domino horizontally in the orange (6) zone and navy (6) zone. The 1 adds to orange's running total, and the 6 adds to navy's running total.
- 11.Place the 3/5 domino horizontally in the orange (6) zone and purple (6) zone. The 3 brings orange's total to exactly 6, and the 5 goes to purple (6).
- 12.Place the 1/0 domino vertically in the purple (6) zone and orange (0) zone. The 1 adds to purple's total, and the 0 satisfies orange's exact-zero condition. This uses your second zero pip.
- 13.Place the 6/5 domino horizontally in the pink (6) zone and the uncolored zone. The 6 satisfies pink's exact-6, and the 5 goes to the uncolored zone with no restriction.
- 14.Place the 5/0 domino horizontally in the navy (6) zone and purple (0) zone. The 5 adds to navy's total, and the 0 satisfies purple's exact-zero condition.
- 15.Place the 5/2 domino vertically in the uncolored zone and navy (6) zone. The 5 goes to uncolored, and the 2 adds to navy's total.
- 16.Place the 4/6 domino horizontally in the navy (6) zone and green (6) zone to complete the final placements.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 2/1 domino vertically in the purple (2) zone and navy (6) zone
- 2.Place the 6/5 domino horizontally in the pink (6) zone and uncolored (no condition) zone
- 3.Place the 5/0 domino horizontally in the navy (6) zone and purple (0) zone
- 4.Place the 0/6 domino vertically in the purple (0) zone and teal (=) zone
- 5.Place the 2/2 domino vertically in the pink (2) zone and green (2) zone
- 6.Place the 6/6 domino horizontally in the teal (=) zone
- 7.Place the 2/6 domino vertically in the teal (2) zone and green (6) zone
- 8.Place the 3/4 domino vertically in the orange (>6) zone
- 9.Place the 3/3 domino vertically in the pink (=) zone
- 10.Place the 2/4 domino vertically in the teal (6) zone
- 11.Place the 1/1 domino vertically in the orange (6) zone
- 12.Place the 1/6 domino horizontally in the orange (6) zone and navy (6) zone
- 13.Place the 3/5 domino horizontally in the orange (6) zone and purple (6) zone
- 14.Place the 1/0 domino vertically in the purple (6) zone and orange (0) zone
- 15.Place the 5/2 domino vertically in the uncolored (no condition) zone and navy (6) zone
- 16.Place the 4/6 domino horizontally in the navy (6) zone and green (6) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge across the board. The grid uses a dense layout with many overlapping exact-number conditions, which forces precise arithmetic rather than pattern matching. None of the three difficulties is trivial, but the equals-condition zones provide reliable entry points.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The zero-pip constraint is the hidden trap. With two zones demanding exactly zero (purple and orange) on different sides of the grid, misallocating your only zero-value dominoes early on can lock you into an unsolvable state. The equals zones bail you out, but only if you spot the constraint before committing.
Our Take: Today's set is a solid midweek workout. The zone layout is identical across all three difficulties, which makes the jump from Easy to Medium feel smaller than usual, but the Hard difficulty demands tighter sequencing. If you solved Easy without checking zone totals first, Medium and Hard will punish that habit. Start with the constraints, place the forced dominoes, and let the rest sort itself out.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
