Pips is the newest entry in the New York Times gaming lineup, introduced in August 2025. This innovative game brings a novel perspective on dominoes, offering a distinct single-player experience that could easily become part of your daily gaming habits.
At present, if you’re having difficulties, the game reveals the entire puzzle, necessitating a move to the next level of difficulty and a fresh start. But fear not, we’re here to assist! Below are clues to guide you through each level of difficulty.
How to engage with Pips
If you’ve been familiar with dominoes, you’ll grasp the fundamentals of how Pips operates. Like dominoes, the tiles can be positioned either vertically or horizontally, connecting with each other. The key distinction is the color-coded criteria that you must satisfy. The adjacent tiles do not necessarily need to be identical.
The criteria are unique to the color-coded areas. For instance, if a single digit is specified, every side of a tile within that area has to total the given number. It’s typical for only half a tile to fall within a color-coded space.
Here are standard illustrations across different difficulty levels:
– Number: The pips in this space must sum to the specified number.
– Equal: Each domino half in this area needs to have an identical number of pips.
– Not Equal: Each domino half in this area must contain distinct numbers of pips.
– Less than: Each domino half in this space should total less than the specified number.
– Greater than: Each domino half in this space needs to sum to more than the specified number.
If a section does not feature color coding, there are no stipulations regarding the domino segments within those areas.
Easy difficulty hints, solutions for Aug. 28
– Equal (4): The domino halves in this area should equal 4. The solution is 4-4, placed vertically; 4-2, placed vertically.
– Number (17): All components in this space must total 17. The solution is 4-2, placed vertically; 5-5, placed horizontally; 5-1, placed horizontally.
Medium difficulty hints, solutions for Aug. 28
– Number (12): All elements in this space need to add up to 12. The solution is 4-6, placed horizontally; 6-1, placed vertically.
– Equal (1): The domino halves in this area must be 1. The solution is 6-1, placed vertically; 1-1, placed vertically; 4-1, placed horizontally.
– Number (17): All components in this space must total 17. The solution is 2-4, placed vertically; 5-4, placed horizontally; 4-1, placed horizontally.
Hard difficulty hints, solutions for Aug. 28
– Equal (1): The domino halves in this purple area need to be 1. The solution is 1-1, placed vertically.
– Number (17): All elements in this dark blue space must sum to 17. The solution is 6-6, placed vertically; 5-1, placed vertically.
– Number (1): All components in this red space must total 1. The solution is 5-1, placed vertically.
– Number (9): All elements in this green space need to add up to 9. The solution is 5-4, placed vertically.
– Greater than (1): All components in this red area should total more than 1. The solution is 3-2, placed vertically.
– Number (7): All elements in this light blue space must sum to 7. The solution is 2-0, placed vertically; 3-0, placed horizontally; 2-6, placed vertically.
– Less than (2): All components in this space need to total less than 2. The solution is 1-0, placed horizontally.
– Number (0): All elements in this purple space need to sum to 0. The solution is 3-0, placed horizontally.
– Number (6): All components in this space must add up to 6. The solution is 2-6, placed vertically.
– Number (0): All elements in this dark blue space must total 0. The solution is 0-0, placed horizontally.
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