Wednesday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Today's set features a mix of exact number requirements and equality conditions that will test your domino placement strategy. 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
Quick Hints (No Spoilers)
Starting Point: Begin with the purple (4) and pink (1) zones - these exact number requirements give you immediate domino placement options.
Key Insight: The teal (18) zone needs high-value dominoes, while the orange (=) zone requires all matching numbers.
Easy Pips Solution
Scroll past if you want to keep trying
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- 1.Place the 4/1 domino horizontally in the purple (4) zone and pink (1) zone
- 2.Place the 6/6 domino horizontally in the teal (18) zone
- 3.Place the 6/0 domino horizontally in the teal (18) zone and orange (=) zone
- 4.Place the 4/5 domino vertically in the navy (15) zone
- 5.Place the 5/5 domino vertically in the navy (15) zone
- 6.Place the 2/2 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone
- 7.Place the 2/3 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone and green (12) zone
- 8.Place the 3/3 domino horizontally in the green (12) zone
- 9.Place the 0/0 domino vertically in the orange (=) zone
- 10.Place the 0/3 domino vertically in the orange (=) zone and green (12) zone
Today's Medium Pips
Quick Hints (No Spoilers)
Starting Point: Look at the purple (2) zone - it's the only exact number requirement and gives you a clear starting domino.
Key Insight: The equality zones (=) need dominoes with matching numbers on both ends or dominoes that can be paired to create equal values.
Medium Pips Solution
Scroll past if you want to keep trying
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- 1.Place the 1/6 domino horizontally in the purple (2) and pink (=) zone
- 2.Place the 6/2 domino horizontally in the pink (=) and teal (=) zone
- 3.Place the 2/2 domino horizontally in the teal (=) zone
- 4.Place the 0/1 domino vertically in the purple (2) zone
- 5.Place the 4/5 domino vertically in the navy (=) zone
- 6.Place the 5/5 domino horizontally in the navy (=) zone
- 7.Place the 6/6 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone
- 8.Place the 6/3 domino horizontally in the purple (=) and green (=) zone
- 9.Place the 2/3 domino vertically in the teal (=) and orange (7) zone
- 10.Place the 4/3 domino vertically in the orange (7) and green (=) zone
Today's Hard Pips
Quick Hints (No Spoilers)
Starting Point: Begin with the purple (8) zone - it's an exact number requirement that gives you specific domino combinations.
Key Insight: The inequality zones (> and <) create constraints that dominoes must satisfy simultaneously.
Watch Out For: Multiple equality zones (=) that need careful domino pairing to satisfy all conditions at once.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 1/1 domino vertically in the purple (8) zone
- 2.Place the 6/4 domino vertically in the purple (8) zone and green (7) zone
- 3.Place the 3/0 domino vertically in the green (7) zone and teal (=) zone
- 4.Place the 3/3 domino horizontally in the pink (>2) zone and teal (<6) zone
- 5.Place the 2/4 domino horizontally in the teal (<6) zone and orange (>8) zone
- 6.Place the 5/1 domino vertically in the orange (>8) zone and navy (=) zone
- 7.Place the 1/4 domino vertically in the navy (=) zone and purple (>3) zone
- 8.Place the 0/4 domino horizontally in the teal (=) zone and orange (>3) zone
- 9.Place the 0/0 domino horizontally in the navy (=) zone
- 10.Place the 3/1 domino vertically in the pink (3) zone and green (<2) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge with increasing complexity across difficulty levels.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - the combination of inequality constraints (> and <) with exact number requirements creates a challenging domino placement puzzle.
Our Take: Today's puzzles showcase the elegant constraints of Pips, where exact numbers provide clear starting points while equality zones require strategic domino pairing. The Hard puzzle's mix of inequality conditions demonstrates how domino placement becomes a satisfying logic puzzle.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
