Stuck on Easy, Medium, or Hard? Find everything you need right here.
By on May 1, 2026
Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue. Released in August 2025, Pips offers a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could be your next daily gaming habit. If you’re stuck, the game currently only reveals the entire puzzle, which forces you to move to the next level and start over. We have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers to help you navigate each difficulty level.
How to play Pips
If you’ve played dominoes, you’ll be familiar with how Pips is played. Tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between traditional dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions. The touching tiles don’t necessarily have to match.
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The conditions are specific to color-coded spaces. If it provides a number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the given number. It’s common for only half a tile to be within a space. Common examples include:
– Number: All pips in this space must add up to the number.
– Equal: Every domino half in this space must have the same number of pips.
– Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a different number of pips.
– Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.
– Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.
If an area is not color-coded, there are no conditions on the dominoes within those spaces.
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Easy difficulty hints, answers for May 1 Pips
Number (10): Sum must be 10. 6-6 vertical; 4-0 horizontal.
Equal (1): Everything must equal 1. 1-1 horizontal; 1-2 vertical.
Less Than (6): Sum must be less than 6. 4-0 horizontal; 5-2 horizontal.
Equal (2): Everything must equal 2. 1-2 vertical; 5-2 horizontal.
Medium difficulty hints, answers for May 1 Pips
Greater Than (1): Everything in purple must be greater than 1. 2-2 horizontal.
Greater Than (1): Everything in red must be greater than 1. 2-2 horizontal.
Equal (0): Everything must be equal to 0. 0-0 horizontal.
Number (10): Sum must be 10. 5-5 vertical.
Greater Than (8): Everything must be greater than 8. 5-8 horizontal.
Number (5): Sum must be 5. 5-2 vertical.
Number (7): Sum must be 7. 3-3 horizontal; 4-4 horizontal.
Not Equal: Everything must be different. 5-2 horizontal; 3-3 horizontal; 4-4 horizontal; 6-1 vertical.
Less Than (6): Everything must be less than 6. 6-1 vertical.
Hard difficulty hints, answers for May 1 Pips
Number (0): Sum must be 0. 0-4 horizontal.
Number (4): Sum must be 4. 0-4 horizontal.
Number (5): Sum must be 5. 5-4 horizontal.
Number (1): Sum must be 1. 1-2 horizontal.
Number (2): Sum must be 2. 1-2 horizontal.
Number (3): Sum must be 3. 3-2 vertical.
Number (3): Sum must be 3. 3-0 horizontal.
Number (1): Sum must be 1. 1-4 vertical.
Number (1): Sum must be 1. 1-0 vertical.
Number (2): Sum must be 2. 3-2 vertical.
Number (2): Sum must be 2. 2-5 vertical.
Equal: Everything must be the same. 3-0 horizontal; 2-0 horizontal.
Number (4): Sum must be 4. 1-4 vertical.
Number (0): Sum must be 0. 1-0 vertical.
Number (2): Sum must be 2. 2-4 horizontal.
Number (4): Sum must be 4. 2-4 horizontal.
Number (3): Sum must be 3. 3-5 vertical.
Number (9): Sum must be 9. 3-4 vertical; 5-1 horizontal.
Number (1): Sum