Joyful Saturday and we’re glad to present your guide to Pips, the latest entry in the New York Times game lineup.

Introduced in August 2025, Pips adds a unique spin to dominoes, providing an enjoyable single-player experience that could become a part of your daily gaming habits.

At this point, if you find yourself in a fix, the game allows you to uncover the whole puzzle, prompting you to advance to a higher difficulty level and start over. But fear not, we’ve got your back! Below are detailed answers that will act as hints to assist you in progressing through every difficulty level.

Guidelines for playing Pips

If you’ve previously engaged with dominoes, you’ll find Pips quite recognizable. As noted in our earlier hints for Pips, the tiles, just like dominoes, can be oriented vertically or horizontally and interconnect with each other. The primary distinction from classic dominoes lies in the color-coded requirements you need to fulfill. The adjacent tiles don’t necessarily need to align.

The requirements you need to satisfy are unique to the color-coded areas. For instance, if a single numeral is indicated, all sides of a tile in that region must total the specified number. It’s not uncommon for only a portion of a tile to reside within a color-coded area.

Here are typical scenarios you will face throughout the difficulty levels:

• Number: All the pips in this area must total the specified number.

• Equal: Each domino half in this area must have an identical number of pips.

• Not Equal: Each domino half in this area must display entirely distinct numbers of pips.

• Less than: Each domino half in this area must sum to a figure lower than the specified number.

• Greater than: Each domino half in this area must total a figure greater than the specified number.

If a section lacks color coding, it indicates that there are no stipulations on the domino portions within those areas.

Hints and answers for easy difficulty, Sept. 22 Pips

Number (12): Everything in this area must sum to 12. The solution is 4-6