Introducing your tutorial on Pips, the latest entry in the New York Times gaming lineup.

Debuting in August 2025, Pips brings a novel perspective to dominoes, offering an engaging single-player journey that could very well become part of your daily routine.

At present, if you find yourself at an impasse, the game gives you the option to reveal the entire puzzle, which necessitates moving on to the next level of difficulty and starting from scratch. But fear not, we’re here to assist you! Below are detailed solutions that will walk you through each level of difficulty.

Playing Pips

If you’ve previously played dominoes, you’ll grasp the fundamental mechanics of Pips. As noted in our earlier Pips tips articles, the tiles, akin to dominoes, can be arranged either vertically or horizontally and interconnect. The primary distinction between conventional dominoes and Pips lies in the color-coded requirements you need to fulfill. The adjoining tiles do not necessarily need to correspond.

The requirements you must satisfy correspond to the color-coded regions. For example, if a solitary number is indicated, each side of a tile in that region must sum up to the specified number. It is possible – and often the case – that only a half tile resides within a color-coded area.

Here are typical scenarios you’ll face across the various levels of difficulty:

• Number: All the pips contained within this space must total the specified number.

• Equal: Each half of the domino in this area must possess the same number of pips.

• Not Equal: Each half of the domino in this area must have entirely different numbers of pips.

• Less than: Each half of the domino in this space must sum to less than the designated number.

• Greater than: Each half of the domino in this space must sum to more than the specified number.

If a region lacks color coding, it indicates there are no restrictions on the sections of dominoes in those areas.

Hints and solutions for Easy difficulty on Nov. 5 Pips

Number (12): Everything in this area must sum to 12. The solution is 4-2