Pips is the newest entry in the New York Times game lineup, introduced in August 2025. This engaging game presents an innovative spin on dominoes, offering an enjoyable single-player experience that could become your go-to daily gaming routine.

At present, if you find yourself in a bind, the game permits you to reveal the entire puzzle, which means you’ll have to progress to a higher difficulty level and restart. Don’t worry, though! Below are segmented answers that will provide hints to guide you through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you’re acquainted with dominoes, you’ll already have an understanding of how Pips functions. Similar to dominoes, the tiles can be arranged either vertically or horizontally, connecting with one another. The key distinction between a conventional game of dominoes and Pips lies in the color-coded conditions that must be met. The adjacent tiles do not have to necessarily correspond.

The conditions to satisfy are particular to the color-coded areas. For instance, if a space specifies a single number, the total of every side of a tile in that area must equal the given number. It’s common for just a portion of a tile to be within a color-coded zone.

Here are typical conditions you’ll face throughout the various difficulty levels:

– Number: The total of pips in this area must correspond to the specified number.
– Equal: Each domino half in this area must contain the identical number of pips.
– Not Equal: Each domino half in this area must have completely different numbers of pips.
– Less than: Each domino half in this area must total less than the indicated number.
– Greater than: Each domino half in this area must total more than the given number.

If a section lacks any color coding, it indicates there are no conditions applied to the sections of dominoes in those areas.

Easy difficulty hints, answers for Aug. 23

Number (1): All elements in this area must sum to 1. The solution is 0-0, arranged horizontally; 1-3, arranged vertically.

Equal (3): The domino halves in this area must equate to 3. The solution is 3-3, arranged horizontally; 1-3, arranged vertically.

Number (4): All elements in this area must total 4. The solution is 4-0, arranged horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for Aug. 23

Less than (2): All elements in this area must total under 2. The solution is 1-5, arranged horizontally.

Equal (5): The domino halves in this area must be 5. The solution is 5-5, arranged horizontally; 1-5, arranged horizontally.

Number (12): The domino halves in this area must add up to 12. The solution is 3-6, arranged vertically; 12-4, arranged horizontally.

Equal (4): The domino halves in this yellow area must equal 4. The solution is 6-4, arranged horizontally; 3-4, arranged horizontally; 4-1, arranged vertically.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for Aug. 23

Number (4): The domino halves in this area must total 4. The solution is 2-1, arranged vertically; 0-0, arranged horizontally; 2-6, arranged vertically.

Equal (1): The domino halves in this red area must equal 1. The solution is 2-1, arranged vertically; 1-1, arranged vertically; 1-6, arranged vertically.

Number (6): The domino halves in this red area must total 6. The solution is 1-6, arranged vertically.

Number (6): The domino halves in this blue area must total 6. The solution is 2-6, arranged vertically.

Greater than (2): The domino halves in this area must total more than 2. The solution is 2-6, arranged horizontally.

Number (6): The domino halves in this purple area must total 6. The solution is 3-6, arranged horizontally.

Number (6): The domino halves in this light blue area must total 6. The solution is 6-0, arranged horizontally.

Less than (6): All elements in this area must total less than 6. The solution is 1-4, arranged horizontally; 1-3, arranged horizontally; 0-1, arranged vertically.

Number (3): The domino halves in this light blue area must total 3. The solution is 1-3, arranged horizontally.

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