Tuesday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Today's lineup runs the same zone layout across all three difficulties, shifting the challenge from puzzle design to placement precision. The equal-value zones are the main constraint -- solve those and the rest clicks into place. 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 green (2) zone is the single most constrained cell. Only one domino satisfies it -- lock it in first and work outward.
Key Insight: Double-value dominoes (0/0, 1/1, 3/3, 4/4, 5/5, 6/6) are essential for equal-value zones. Reserve them strategically instead of burning them early as fillers.
Watch Out For: The pink (<5) zone is easy to miss. Only the 4/0 domino fits here -- place the 4 in pink and the 0 in teal (=). Also, the navy (>13) and purple (>10) zones have different thresholds. Don't overshoot navy by dumping all your high pips there or you will starve the purple (>10) zone.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Green (2) is the tightest constraint on the board -- exactly 2 pips. The only valid domino is 2/1, placed horizontally so the 1 lands in green (2) and the 2 goes into the adjacent orange (=) zone. This is your starting anchor.
- 2.Pink (12) needs exactly 12. Place 2/6 horizontally across purple (=) and pink (12) -- the 6 lands in pink. Place 6/5 horizontally across pink (12) and teal (6) -- the 5 lands in pink. Pink now has 11. Place 1/6 horizontally across teal (6) and orange (12) so the 1 lands in pink. Pink totals 12. Solved.
- 3.Teal (6) is an exact-total zone satisfied by the 6 from the 6/5 domino. The teal (=) zone is a separate equal-value zone. All pips in teal (=) must match. Place 0/0 horizontally in teal (=). Place 4/0 vertically across pink (<5) and teal (=) -- the 0 lands in teal (=). Place 5/0 vertically across the uncolored zone and teal (=) -- the 0 lands in teal (=). All pips in teal (=) are 0.
- 4.Orange (12) needs exactly 12. The 1/6 domino gives orange 6. Place 6/3 vertically across orange (12) and navy (=) -- 3 lands in orange. Orange totals 9. The remaining orange zones are orange (=), which is an equal-value zone separate from orange (12).
- 5.Navy (>13): Place 5/5 vertically (10). Place 5/3 horizontally across navy (>13) and the uncolored zone (8). Total: 18, which is greater than 13.
- 6.Purple (>10): Place 6/6 horizontally. Total: 12, greater than 10.
- 7.Pink (<5): Place 4/0 vertically across pink (<5) and teal (=). The 4 lands in pink, satisfying the less-than-5 condition.
- 8.Equal-value zones: Purple (=) gets 2 from 2/6 and 2 from 2/4 vertically -- all 2s. Green (=) gets 4 from 2/4 and 4 from 4/4 vertically -- all 4s. Navy (=) gets 3 from 6/3 and 3 from 3/1 vertically -- all 3s. Teal (=) gets 0 from 0/0, 0 from 4/0, and 0 from 5/0 -- all 0s. Orange (=) gets 2 from 2/1, 1 from 1/1, and 1 from 3/1.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
---
---
---
---
---
- 1.Place the 2/6 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone and pink (12) zone
- 2.Place the 6/5 domino horizontally in the pink (12) zone and teal (6) zone
- 3.Place the 1/6 domino horizontally in the teal (6) zone and orange (12) zone
- 4.Place the 6/3 domino vertically in the orange (12) zone and navy (=) zone
- 5.Place the 2/4 domino vertically in the purple (=) zone and green (=) zone
- 6.Place the 4/4 domino vertically in the green (=) zone
- 7.Place the 5/5 domino vertically in the navy (>13) zone
- 8.Place the 5/3 domino horizontally in the navy (>13) zone and uncolored (no condition) zone
- 9.Place the 3/3 domino horizontally in the uncolored (no condition) zone
- 10.Place the 2/1 domino horizontally in the green (2) zone and orange (=) zone
- 11.Place the 1/1 domino vertically in the orange (=) zone
- 12.Place the 3/1 domino vertically in the navy (=) zone and orange (=) zone
- 13.Place the 6/6 domino horizontally in the purple (>10) zone
- 14.Place the 4/0 domino vertically in the pink (<5) zone and teal (=) zone
- 15.Place the 0/0 domino horizontally in the teal (=) zone
- 16.Place the 5/0 domino vertically in the uncolored (no condition) zone and teal (=) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge. The same zone layout across all three difficulties means the puzzle logic stays consistent, but the constraints tighten as you move up. The equal-value zones are the real gatekeepers here.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard -- the interplay between the orange (12) exact total zone and the orange (=) equal-value zone creates the tightest margin for error. Both share borders with navy (=) and green (2), and misplacing a single domino in either zone cascades errors across the board.
Our Take: Today's set rewards methodical pip-counting over brute-force trial and error. The equal-value zones force you to think ahead about which dominoes share borders, making this more of a logic-grid puzzle than a placement game. The Hard difficulty's real challenge is not the pips -- it is the geometry. Plan your doubles carefully and verify every zone total before locking in a placement.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
