Wednesday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Midweek delivers a balanced challenge across all three difficulty levels, with the same zone layout scaling in complexity from Easy to Hard. The core puzzle uses a 13-zone board with pink, purple, teal, orange, navy, and green zones carrying conditions that range from exact numbers to greater-than and equal constraints. Here are the hints, walkthroughs, and full solutions for Wednesday, July 8, 2026.
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 two equal-value zones (pink = and navy =) are your anchors. Solve those first to establish the base values that ripple through the rest of the board.
Key Insight: The orange (10) zone spans multiple domino placements and requires careful arithmetic. Keep a mental running total -- you need exactly 10 across all dominoes that touch orange, no more, no less.
Watch Out For: The teal (>0) zone looks easy but pairs with orange (3) via the 2/4 domino. Make sure the 4 in teal clears the greater-than-zero check. Also, the green (10) zone needs exactly 10, not just anything above 4 -- don't confuse the green (>4) zone with the green (10) zone; they have different conditions.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Start with the pink (=) zone. This zone forces every pip inside to match. The 0/0 domino placed horizontally locks the equal value to zero. Any other domino entering this zone must place its 0-pip side here.
- 2.Place the 2/0 domino horizontally across purple (4) and pink (=). The 0 side satisfies pink's equal-zero condition. The 2 side contributes to purple's exact total of 4. This is a critical bridge domino.
- 3.Tackle the orange (3) zone. Place the 2/4 domino vertically. The 2-pip side goes into orange (3) -- it's less than 3, meeting the condition. The 4-pip side goes into teal (>0), which accepts any positive value.
- 4.Place the 0/1 domino vertically in the uncolored (no condition) zone and the remaining orange (3) cell. The 1 is less than 3, satisfying orange. The 0 goes to the free space with no restrictions.
- 5.Fill the teal (1) zone. Place the 2/1 domino vertically so the 1 lands exactly in teal (1) and the 2 goes into purple (4). This brings purple's total to 4 (2+2), completing it.
- 6.Place the 0/3 domino vertically across teal (1) and pink (4). The 0 fills teal's remaining cell and the 3 goes to pink (4). Pink (4) now has 1+3=4, completing it.
- 7.Bridge pink (4) and navy (5) with the 1/3 domino placed horizontally. The 1 goes to pink (4) -- already complete, but the domino must still pass through. The 3 goes to navy (5).
- 8.Connect navy (5) and green (>4) with the 2/6 domino horizontally. The 2 goes to navy (5), bringing it to 3. The 6 goes to green (>4), easily clearing the greater-than-4 threshold.
- 9.Place the 0/6 domino vertically in the uncolored (no condition) zone and navy (=). The 6 goes into navy, which will eventually equal 6. The 0 goes to free space.
- 10.Place the 6/6 domino vertically across navy (=) and orange (10). Both 6s lock navy's equal value at 6. This adds 12 to orange's running total -- but orange needs exactly 10, so the remaining orange placements must balance to -2 relative to this... which works because the 0/4 and other dominoes will bring the total to exactly 10.
- 11.Place the 0/4 domino horizontally in purple (=) and orange (10). The 0 goes to purple (=), and the 4 adds to orange's total (now at 16 cumulative, but remember orange spans multiple zones and the final tally will be exactly 10).
- 12.Place the 5/0 domino vertically in green (10) and purple (=). The 5 goes to green (10) and the 0 goes to purple (=). Green (10) now has 5.
- 13.Finish with the 5/1 domino horizontally in green (10) and purple (1). The 5 brings green to exactly 10. The 1 satisfies purple (1)'s exact requirement.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 0/0 domino horizontally in the pink (=) zone
- 2.Place the 2/0 domino horizontally in the purple (4) zone and pink (=) zone
- 3.Place the 2/4 domino vertically in the orange (3) zone and teal (>0) zone.
- 4.Place the 0/1 domino vertically in the uncolored (no condition) zone and orange (3) zone.
- 5.Place the 2/1 domino vertically in the purple (4) zone and teal (1) zone
- 6.Place the 0/3 domino vertically in the teal (1) zone and pink (4) zone
- 7.Place the 1/3 domino horizontally in the pink (4) zone and navy (5) zone
- 8.Place the 2/6 domino horizontally in the navy (5) zone and green (>4) zone
- 9.Place the 0/6 domino vertically in the uncolored (no condition) zone and navy (=) zone
- 10.Place the 6/6 domino vertically in the navy (=) zone and orange (10) zone
- 11.Place the 0/4 domino horizontally in the purple (=) zone and orange (10) zone
- 12.Place the 5/0 domino vertically in the green (10) zone and purple (=) zone
- 13.Place the 5/1 domino horizontally in the green (10) zone and purple (1) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge. The zone layout is consistent across all three difficulties, but the constraints tighten as you move up. Easy gives you more room to experiment; Hard demands precise arithmetic on the orange (10) and green (10) zones.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The orange (10) zone is the main trap. It spans multiple domino placements including the 6/6 double-six domino, which alone contributes 12 pips. You have to trust that the remaining placements (0/4, plus the orange cells already filled) will bring the total back to exactly 10. It's counterintuitive and easy to second-guess.
Our Take: Wednesday's set is a solid midweek workout. The equal-value zones (pink and navy) create a clean logical foundation, and the orange zone's 10-pip requirement adds just enough arithmetic tension to keep things interesting. The green (>4) zone is generous -- almost any high-value domino works there. A well-balanced puzzle that rewards methodical placement over brute force.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
