Welcome to your overview of Pips, the latest addition to the New York Times gaming lineup.

Debuted in August 2025, Pips brings a new perspective to dominoes, offering an engaging single-player experience that could easily turn into your daily gaming habit.

At present, if you find yourself in a bind, the game allows you to unveil the complete puzzle, compelling you to progress to the next level of difficulty and restart from scratch. But no need for concern, we’ve got your back! Below are detailed answers that will give you hints to assist you through each level of difficulty.

Understanding how to play Pips

If you’ve experienced dominoes previously, you’ll grasp the fundamentals of how Pips functions. As stated in our earlier hints regarding Pips, the tiles, akin to dominoes, can be arranged either vertically or horizontally and connect with one another. The main distinction between conventional dominoes and Pips lies in the color-coded requirements you need to fulfill. The adjacent tiles don’t necessarily have to correspond.

The requirements to fulfill are tailored to the color-coded areas. For example, if a single digit is given, each side of a tile in that area must sum to the specified number. It’s feasible – and typical – for merely half a tile to fall within a color-coded area.

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

• Number: The total of all the pips in this area must equal the number.

• Equal: Every domino half in this area must carry the same amount of pips.

• Not Equal: Each domino half in this area must feature a completely different number of pips.

• Less than: The total of all domino halves in this area must be less than the specified number.

• Greater than: The total of all domino halves in this area must exceed the defined number.

If a section does not have any color coding, it indicates that there are no requirements on the segments of dominoes within those areas.

Hints and answers for Easy difficulty on Dec. 8 Pips

Less Than (1): All elements in this area must be lower than 1. The solution is 0-3.