Wednesday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. Today's lineup is a well-balanced mix: Easy rewards methodical zone hunting, Medium introduces some crossover tension, and Hard demands you track multiple constraints simultaneously. 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 (=) zone is your most restrictive constraint. Solve it first and everything else falls into place.
Key Insight: Multiple purple and navy zones share exact sums of 9 and 8. The crossover dominoes between them are not optional, they are the only way to satisfy both zones simultaneously.
Watch Out For: The teal (>4) zone and the uncolored zone share a vertical domino. It is easy to forget the uncolored zone has no condition, but the teal side must still exceed 4. Do not place a low-value domino here or you will break the condition.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Lock in the green (=) zone first. The only domino with all-equal pips small enough for this grid is the 1/1. Place it horizontally. This constraint is absolute, no other domino works here.
- 2.Drop the 3/3 horizontally into the purple (9) zone. Purple needs pips summing to 9, and this is the only domino that delivers that exact total in a single placement.
- 3.Position the 3/1 vertically across purple (9) and green (=). The 3 adds to purple's running total, and the 1 matches green's uniform value. This is a mandatory crossover, you cannot satisfy both zones without it.
- 4.Place the 1/4 vertically across green (=) and purple (8). Green stays uniform at 1, and purple (8) gets its 4. This domino is forced by the geometry of the board.
- 5.Lay the 4/0 horizontally across purple (8) and pink (<3). Purple (8) now sums to exactly 8, and the 0 keeps pink under 3. Critical precision placement.
- 6.Drop the 2/3 vertically in orange (5). Clean exact match, 2+3=5. No ambiguity here.
- 7.Place the 0/1 vertically in orange (<4). Both values are below 4. Straightforward.
- 8.Place the 2/2 vertically in pink (4). Exact match for pink's condition. Pink is now fully satisfied.
- 9.Lay the 6/6 horizontally in teal (12). This is the only domino that sums to 12 on its own. Mandatory anchor for the teal zone.
- 10.Place the 0/6 vertically across pink (4) and teal (12). Pink was already satisfied with 2/2, so the 0 keeps it valid. The 6 contributes to teal's running total.
- 11.Position the 6/4 horizontally across teal (12) and navy (9). Note that there are two separate teal (12) zones on the board, this placement feeds the second teal zone, not the one anchored by the 6/6.
- 12.Place the 4/5 vertically across purple (9) and navy (9). There are also two purple (9) zones. This domino satisfies the second purple zone and contributes to navy's exact-9 requirement.
- 13.Drop the 1/5 vertically across navy (1) and purple (9). The 1 satisfies navy's exact-1 requirement. The 5 goes to purple's second 9-sum zone.
- 14.Place the 3/5 vertically in the uncolored zone and teal (>4). The 5 clears the greater-than-4 check on the teal side. The uncolored side accepts any value.
- 15.Place the 4/4 vertically in orange (=). Both pips equal. Condition satisfied.
- 16.Lay the 4/3 horizontally across orange (=) and navy (<4). Both values in navy are under 4. Board complete.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 3/3 domino horizontally in the purple (9) zone
- 2.Place the 3/1 domino vertically in the purple (9) zone and green (=) zone
- 3.Place the 1/1 domino horizontally in the green (=) zone
- 4.Place the 1/4 domino vertically in the green (=) zone and purple (8) zone
- 5.Place the 4/0 domino horizontally in the purple (8) zone and pink (<3) zone
- 6.Place the 2/3 domino vertically in the orange (5) zone
- 7.Place the 0/1 domino vertically in the orange (<4) zone
- 8.Place the 2/2 domino vertically in the pink (4) zone
- 9.Place the 6/6 domino horizontally in the teal (12) zone
- 10.Place the 0/6 domino vertically in the pink (4) zone and teal (12) zone
- 11.Place the 6/4 domino horizontally in the teal (12) zone and navy (9) zone
- 12.Place the 4/5 domino vertically in the purple (9) zone and navy (9) zone
- 13.Place the 1/5 domino vertically in the navy (1) zone and purple (9) zone
- 14.Place the 3/5 domino vertically in the uncolored (no condition) zone and teal (>4) zone
- 15.Place the 4/4 domino vertically in the orange (=) zone
- 16.Place the 4/3 domino horizontally in the orange (=) zone and navy (<4) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge. The zone list is identical across all three difficulties today, which is unusual. The difference comes down to how the zones are arranged on the grid, Hard likely spaces them further apart or introduces more overlap constraints.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard, The teal (>4) zone paired with the uncolored zone is easy to misplace. A low-value domino here bricks the entire solve. Additionally, the multiple purple (9) and teal (12) zones require careful tracking of which zone has been satisfied and which still needs values.
Our Take: Today's set leans heavily on exact-sum zones, which makes the solve more about arithmetic than spatial reasoning. The green (=) zone is the keystone, get that right and the rest unfolds logically. Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
