Wednesday brings a fresh set of NYT Pips puzzles. All three difficulty levels share the same 15-domino grid today, making this a consistent challenge across Easy, Medium, and Hard. The zone conditions demand careful attention to exact-number requirements and the not-equal navy zone. 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 purple (12) zone is your anchor. Drop the 6/6 domino there first to lock down the highest exact-number requirement.
Key Insight: The teal (7) zone and green (12) zone both need specific totals. Track your running sums carefully the 1/4, 3/2, and 3/0 dominoes all contribute to teal's target of 7.
Watch Out For: The navy (≠) zone requires three dominoes with all distinct values. Do not place any matching-number dominoes there. The 3/4, 6/2, and 1/5 are your only options since none share a pip value.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough
- 1.Start by placing the 6/6 domino horizontally in the purple (12) zone. This is the most constrained placement two sixes sum to exactly 12, and no other domino combination can satisfy this zone.
- 2.Next, handle the navy (0) zone. Place the 0/4 domino vertically so the 0 lands in navy (0) and the 4 goes into purple (=).
- 3.Place the 0/2 domino vertically with the 0 in navy (0) and the 2 in orange (=).
- 4.Lay the 0/1 domino horizontally across navy (0) and pink (2). Three zero-value dominoes now fill the navy (0) zone completely.
- 5.Place the 1/4 domino horizontally across pink (2) and teal (7). The 1 completes pink's requirement of two 1s; the 4 starts building teal's total toward 7.
- 6.Set the 1/6 domino vertically in orange (1) and green (12). The 1 satisfies orange's exact-number requirement.
- 7.Place the 2/2 domino horizontally in orange (=). Two 2s satisfy the equal condition.
- 8.Lay the 3/2 domino vertically with the 3 in teal (7) and the 2 in orange (=). Teal now has 4+3=7, satisfying its exact-number condition.
- 9.Place the 6/4 domino horizontally across green (12) and purple (=). Green gets 6 from the earlier 1/6 domino plus this 6 and 4, totaling 16. The 4 goes into purple (=).
- 10.Set the 5/5 domino horizontally in pink (=). Two 5s satisfy pink's equal condition.
- 11.Place the 4/5 domino vertically across purple (=) and pink (=).
- 12.Lay the 3/0 domino vertically with the 3 in green (>2) and the 0 in teal (0). The 3 satisfies green's greater-than-2 condition.
- 13.Place the 3/4 domino horizontally in navy (≠).
- 14.Set the 6/2 domino horizontally in navy (≠).
- 15.Place the 1/5 domino vertically in navy (≠). The navy zone now contains 3, 4, 6, 2, 1, and 5 all distinct values, satisfying the not-equal condition.
Hard Pips Solution
Last chance to solve independently
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- 1.Place the 6/6 domino horizontally in the purple (12) zone
- 2.Place the 0/4 domino vertically in the navy (0) zone and purple (=) zone
- 3.Place the 0/2 domino vertically in the navy (0) zone and orange (=) zone
- 4.Place the 0/1 domino horizontally in the navy (0) zone and pink (2) zone
- 5.Place the 1/4 domino horizontally in the pink (2) zone and teal (7) zone
- 6.Place the 1/6 domino vertically in the orange (1) zone and green (12) zone
- 7.Place the 2/2 domino horizontally in the orange (=) zone
- 8.Place the 3/2 domino vertically in the teal (7) zone and orange (=) zone
- 9.Place the 6/4 domino horizontally in the green (12) zone and purple (=) zone
- 10.Place the 5/5 domino horizontally in the pink (=) zone
- 11.Place the 4/5 domino vertically in the purple (=) zone and pink (=) zone
- 12.Place the 3/0 domino vertically in the green (>2) zone and teal (0) zone
- 13.Place the 3/4 domino horizontally in the navy (≠) zone
- 14.Place the 6/2 domino horizontally in the navy (≠) zone
- 15.Place the 1/5 domino vertically in the navy (≠) zone
Puzzle Debrief
Overall Difficulty: Moderate challenge all three levels use the same grid and solution, so the difficulty comes from your familiarity with the mechanics rather than escalating complexity.
Trickiest Puzzle: Hard - The navy (≠) zone is the trap. With only three dominoes allowed and all six pip values required to be distinct, you must reserve the 3/4, 6/2, and 1/5 for that zone and use them nowhere else. One wrong placement early and you paint yourself into a corner.
Our Take: Today's set is unusual in that Easy, Medium, and Hard share the same 15-domino solution. This makes it a great day to practice your Pips fundamentals across all difficulty levels. The navy (≠) zone demands forward planning, and the orange (=) zone requires careful tracking of duplicate values. Solid puzzle design from the NYT team.
Tomorrow's Pips drops at midnight. See you then.
