Welcome to your resource for Pips, the latest entry in the New York Times game series. Launched in August 2025, Pips provides a novel twist on dominoes, offering an immersive single-player setup that may become your new go-to gaming activity. As of now, if you find yourself at an impasse, the game reveals the entire puzzle, compelling you to progress to the next difficulty tier and restart. Yet, we’re here to assist you with incremental solutions to navigate each challenge level.

How to engage with Pips

If you have experience with dominoes, you’ll grasp the fundamental concepts of Pips quickly. As stated in prior tips for Pips, the tiles, much like dominoes, can be arranged either vertically or horizontally and interconnect. The key difference between standard dominoes and Pips lies in the color-coded requirements you need to meet. The adjacent tiles do not necessarily need to correspond.

The requirements you need to fulfill hinge on the color-coded areas. For example, when a single number is indicated, all sides of a tile in that area must total the specified number. It is possible—and usual—for just half of a tile to fall within a color-coded area.

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

– Number: All the pips in this area must sum to the number.
– Equal: Each domino half in this area must contain the same number of pips.
– Not Equal: Each domino half in this area must possess a completely different number of pips.
– Less than: Each domino half in this area must total less than the number.
– Greater than: Each domino half in this area must total more than the number.

If a zone is devoid of color coding, it indicates that there are no restrictions on the sections of dominoes within those areas.

Easy difficulty tips, solutions for Jan. 1 Pips

– Equal (5): All elements in this space must equal 5. The solution is 5-2, arranged horizontally; 5-1, arranged horizontally.
– Number (3): All elements in this space must total 3. The solution is 5-2, arranged horizontally; 0-3, arranged vertically; 0-1, arranged vertically.
– Less Than (2): All elements in this space must be under 2. The solution is 5-1, arranged horizontally.
– Number (3): All elements in this space must total 3. The solution is 0-3, arranged vertically.

Medium difficulty tips, solutions for Jan. 1 Pips

– Number (10): All elements in this purple space must total 10. The solution is 6-3, arranged horizontally; 4-2, arranged horizontally.
– Number (6): All elements in this space must total 6. The solution is 0-2, arranged vertically; 4-2, arranged horizontally; 2-6, arranged vertically.
– Number (10): All elements in this light blue space must total 10. The solution is 5-5, arranged horizontally.
– Number (6): All elements in this space must total 6. The solution is 6-0, arranged horizontally.
– Number (10): All elements in this green space must total 10. The solution is 2-6, arranged vertically; 4-0, arranged horizontally.
– Less Than (3): All elements in this space must be under 3. The solution is 6-0, arranged horizontally; 4-0, arranged horizontally.

Hard difficulty tips, solutions for Jan. 1 Pips

– Equal (6): All elements in this purple space must equal 6. The solution is 1-6, arranged horizontally; 6-4, arranged vertically.
– Equal (5): All elements in this red space must equal 5. The solution is 5-0, arranged vertically; 5-5, arranged horizontally.
– Equal (4): All elements in this light blue space must equal 4. The solution is 6-4, arranged vertically; 4-0, arranged vertically; 4-4, arranged horizontally.
– Equal (2): All elements in this orange space must equal 2. The solution is 2-5, arranged vertically; 2-2, arranged horizontally; 2-6, arranged vertically.
– Equal (0): All elements in this dark blue space must equal 0. The solution is 4-0, arranged vertically; 0-0, arranged horizontally; 0-1, arranged horizontally.
– Number (1): All elements in this green space must total 1. The solution is 0-1, arranged horizontally.
– Number (1): All elements in this purple space must total 1. The solution is 1-2.