Welcome to your reference for Pips, the latest addition to the New York Times gaming lineup. Launched in August 2025, Pips provides a novel spin on dominoes, offering an engaging single-player experience that might become your new routine. At present, if you find yourself at an impasse, the game allows you to reveal the complete puzzle, prompting you to advance to a higher difficulty and restart. But don’t fret, we’re here to assist! Below you’ll find partial solutions that will act as clues to guide you through each difficulty tier.

How to engage with Pips

If you have experience with dominoes, you’ll be somewhat acquainted with the gameplay of Pips. As indicated in our earlier hint articles for Pips, the tiles, similar to dominoes, can be arranged either vertically or horizontally and connect with one another. The primary distinction between a classic domino game and Pips lies in the color-coded requirements you need to fulfill. The adjacent tiles do not necessarily need to match.

The requirements you must satisfy are particular to the color-coded areas. For instance, if a single digit is given, all sides of a tile in that area must sum to the stated number. It’s possible—and frequent—for just half of a tile to be located within a color-coded area.

Here are standard examples you will encounter across the various difficulty levels:

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

If an area lacks color coding, it signifies there are no conditions on the parts of dominoes within those regions.

Easy difficulty hints, answers for Feb. 22 Pips

– Number (0): Everything in this area must total 0. The solution is 4-0, positioned vertically; 6-6, positioned horizontally.
– Greater Than (9): Everything in this area must exceed 9. The solution is 6-6, positioned horizontally.
– Number (9): Everything in this area must sum to 9. The solution is 6-6, positioned horizontally; 3-5, positioned vertically.
– Number (0): Everything in this area must total 0. The solution is 2-0, positioned horizontally.
– Greater Than (1): Everything in this area must be greater than 1. The solution is 2-1, positioned vertically.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for Feb. 22 Pips

– Number (4): Everything in this area must total 4. The solution is 5-4, positioned horizontally.
– Equal (3): Everything in this area must equal 3. The solution is 3-2, positioned vertically; 3-5, positioned vertically.
– Number (10): Everything in this area must total 10. The solution is 3-5, positioned vertically; 5-0, positioned horizontally.
– Less Than (3): Everything in this area must be less than 3. The solution is 5-0, positioned horizontally.

– Greater Than (4): Everything in this area must exceed 4. The solution is 5-1, positioned horizontally.
– Number (2): Everything in this area must total 2. The solution is 5-1, positioned horizontally; 1-3, positioned horizontally.
– Number (22): Everything in this area must total 22. The solution is 6-6, positioned horizontally; 4-6, positioned horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for Feb. 22 Pips

– Less Than (2): Everything in this area must be less than 2. The solution is 0-3, positioned vertically.
– Equal (3): Everything in this area must equal 3. The solution is 0-3, positioned vertically; 3-2, positioned horizontally.

– Number (9): Everything in this area must total 9. The solution is 4-3, positioned vertically; 5-0, positioned vertically.
– Number (9): Everything in this area must total 9. The solution is 4-3, positioned vertically; 6-1, positioned vertically.
– Number (1): Everything in this area must total 1. The solution is 6-1, positioned vertically.
– Number (12): Everything in this area must total 12. The solution is 6-4, positioned vertically; 5-6, positioned vertically.
– Number (4): Everything in this