Need some help with the NYT Pips today? Unlike the other NYT Games, Pips is one of the few that focuses on numbers and logical placement. No worries, though, we've got you covered.
Below, we've compiled hints and solutions for the Easy and Medium puzzles, along with a comprehensive guide for the Hard Pips. You can play along here.
Spoilers below for the April 10 Pips. Only read if you want the solutions for today's Pips puzzles.
Alternatively, for more word-based puzzling, check out our guides for tips and solutions to Connections, Strands and Wordle.
Pips tips — how to play Pips
Pips is a domino placement game featuring a grid of multicolored boxes that gets more complicated and larger as you go up in difficulty. Each colored zone represents a condition you have to meet.
You select dominoes and place dominoes into the grid to meet those conditions. You must use every domino to achieve each condition and win the game. Clicking or tapping on the dominoes rotates them so you can position the tiles.
In the above example from a medium puzzle, there are four colored zones. Your placed dominoes must total 12 in the purple zone. In the teal and orange sectors, the number of domino pips must be greater than 3.
In the hard mode, the zones and symbols get more complicated. For example, you could see a crossed-out equal sign, meaning that the three squares you place must be different numbers.
Here are the various symbols you might see:
- = All pips must be the same in this group
- ≠ All pips must not be the same number in this group
- > The pips in the tile must be greater than the listed number
- < The pips in this tile must be less than the listed number
- A number [like 12], the pips must equal that exact number
- Tiles with no color can be anything; think of this as a free space
To win a game of Pips, you must fulfill every condition and fill every square. In some puzzles, there is only one correct solution. In others, usually the harder ones, there can be multiple solutions.
Today's Pips answers — hints to help you solve it
Below are the solutions for the Easy and Medium-level Pips. After that, you can find a fuller walkthrough for the Hard level. Spoilers below.
Today's Easy Pips solution
Today's Medium Pips solution
Today's Hard Pips walkthrough and solution
After yesterday's E silhouette, we're going down the alphabet with the letter F.
There's one throwaway starting spot and one obvious starting zone. The throwaway is the orange 4 that splits the F. The only one that fits there is the 1/3 tile. Pop it in and let's move on to the real starter.
The 4-square purple equal zone in the upper left corner has a few options. There are four 1s, four 3s (even after you fill the orange 4), five 5s, and four 6s. However, one of the 6s is required for the orange 6 in the bottom right corner.
The real clue is the giant purple not equal zone, which requires one representative of every number. That eliminates every number except the 5s. Thus, four of the 5s go into the purple = zone.
The 5/5 double takes the corner. Then the 5/1 can go into the pink 4. At this point, there is debate over the 5/3 or 5/3 going into the olive >4 zone. The double 0/0 solves this problem since half is needed for the not equal zone, meaning the 4 is needed elsewhere.
Moving to the upper right corner. The 3/4 caps the pink 4 zone. Below the 4, we can place the 4/0. Then the 0/0 goes down into the not equal zone.
This means the 6/6 double goes into the orange 6 in the bottom right corner vertically. Then the 1/1 crosses the not equal into the teal 4.
Finally, the 3/6 caps the teal 4 with the 6 in the pink = zone. Then the 6/2 fills the pink zone and fills the olive >4 zone, which adds up to 5 now.
Here's what it looks like for the visual folks:
Hard Pips solution
