Welcome to your resource for Pips, the newest game in the New York Times collection. Launched in August 2025, Pips offers a distinctive twist on dominoes, making for an entertaining single-player experience that may become your next daily gaming routine. At present, if you find yourself in a bind, the game will only reveal the complete puzzle, pushing you to advance to the next difficulty level and restart. But don’t worry! Below you will find incremental solutions that will act as clues to help you navigate through each level of difficulty.

How to play Pips

If you have ever played dominoes, you’ll have a basic understanding of how Pips functions. As mentioned in our earlier hint collections for Pips, the tiles, akin to dominoes, can be placed either vertically or horizontally and must connect with one another. The primary distinction between a regular game of dominoes and Pips lies in the color-coded requirements you must fulfill. The adjacent tiles aren’t required to match up.

The requirements you need to fulfill pertain specifically to the color-coded areas. For instance, if an area shows a single number, each side of the tile in that area must total the specified number. It is not uncommon – and indeed typical – for only part of a tile to fit into a color-coded area.

Here are typical scenarios you may encounter throughout the varying difficulty levels:

– Number: The total of all the pips in this area must equal the designated number.
– Equal: Every domino half in this area must showcase the same number of pips.
– Not Equal: Each domino half in this area must display a completely distinct number of pips.
– Less than: Each domino half in this area must total less than the designated number.
– Greater than: Every domino half in this area must total more than the designated number.

If an area lacks any color coding, it indicates that there are no stipulations on the portions of dominoes within those areas.

Easy difficulty hints, answers for April 4 Pips

Number (6): Every piece in this section must total 6. The solution is 6-1, oriented horizontally.
Equal (6): Each piece in this section must equal 6. The response is 6-2, laid out horizontally; 6-4, laid out horizontally.
Equal (2): Each piece in this section must equal 2. The response is 6-2, positioned horizontally; 2-0, positioned vertically.
Number (7): Everything in this section must total 7. The solution is 6-4, placed horizontally; 3-5, laid out horizontally.
Number (5): All items in this section must sum to 5. The answer is 2-0, oriented vertically; 3-5, positioned horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for April 4 Pips

Less Than (6): Every piece in this section must be less than 6. The answer is 5-2, laid out vertically.
Less Than (7): Each piece in this section must be less than 7. The solution is 5-2, positioned vertically; 6-4, laid out vertically.
Number (10): Each piece in this section must total 10. The solution is 5-5, placed vertically.
Number (6): Every piece in this section must total 6. The response is 3-2, oriented horizontally; 3-0, positioned vertically.
Number (5): All pieces in this section must total 5. The answer is 3-2, oriented horizontally; 3-4, positioned vertically.
Number (5): Each piece in this section must sum to 5. The answer is 1-0, laid out vertically; 3-4, laid out vertically.
Number (0): Every piece in this section must total 0. The response is 3-0, placed vertically; 1-0, placed vertically.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for April 4 Pips

Number (9): Every item in this section must total 9. The solution is 4-5, laid out vertically.
Number (4): Each piece in this section must total 4. The response is 4-2, laid out vertically.
Greater Than (9): Everything in this section must be greater than 9. The answer is 6-4, positioned vertically.
Number (6): Each piece in this section must total 6. The answer is 6-3, laid out vertically.
Less Than (4): Everything in this section must be below 4. The response is 6-3, laid out vertically.
Number (2): Each piece in this section must total 2. The solution is 2-2, oriented vertically.
Less Than (3): Each piece in this section must be below 3. The response is 2-2, positioned vertically.