Looking for NYT Pips hints for today’s puzzles? Below you will find strategy pointers, complete answers for the Easy and Medium grids, and a detailed walkthrough for the Hard board for Friday, August 7.
It is Friday already, and August is still young. If you are tackling today’s set, this guide will help you work through each tier efficiently.
How To Play NYT Pips
Pips presents a grid divided into colored regions. Each color sets a condition you must satisfy with dominoes. You are given a fixed set of domino tiles and must place all of them to fill the board while meeting every condition. There are Easy, Medium, and Hard difficulties.
Each colored area lists rules for the pips that land in those squares. Examples include equality or inequality across a region, totals greater than or less than a shown value, or an exact number required in a specific tile. Blank tiles accept any value. You can rotate dominoes to align numbers with the proper squares.
- = All pips in that color group must match.
- ≠ All pips in that group must be different.
- > The tile, or tiles marked, must exceed the shown number.
- < The marked tile must be below the shown number.
- A numeral, such as 6, indicates that tile must equal that number.
- Unmarked tiles can take any value.
Win conditions are simple: place every domino, fill every square, and satisfy each colored rule. Some layouts have a single solution while others permit more than one.
Today’s Pips Solutions And Walkthrough
Below are complete solutions for the Easy and Medium grids, followed by a step-by-step guide to finish the Hard puzzle. Spoilers follow.
Today’s Easy Pips
Solution available: place the provided domino set to meet all colored conditions and fill the grid.
Today’s Medium Pips
Solution available: use all tiles while matching each regional rule as shown for today’s layout.
Hard Pips Walkthrough And Solution
Today’s Hard grid uses a tall, tower-style layout that tends to be more exacting. There are no doubles in the set, and no squares that require a 6. That means the single 6-pip tile must be placed either in an area marked greater than 0 or in a free tile. Begin by anchoring tiles that satisfy explicit numbers and directional constraints, then fill remaining free spaces near the end.
Step 1
Place these dominoes to establish anchors: set 2/1 from an Orange 2 down into a Purple 1 at the top-right. In the bottom-left, place 5/1 from Purple 5 into Blue 1, then 5/3 from Pink 5 into Blue 3. Above that, place 2/4 from Orange 2 into Dark Blue 4.
Step 2
Continue with 5/2 from Green 5 down into Orange > 0, and 4/1 from Purple 4 into Pink 1. Next, place 3/2 from Green 3 up into Pink 2, and 3/0 from Dark Blue 3 up into Purple 0. With Orange > 0 satisfied by the 5/2 placement, the 6 will belong in a free tile later.
Step 3
Set 3/4 from Orange 3 into Dark Blue 4, then 4/5 from Blue 4 into Orange 5. Place 3/1 from Green 3 up into Pink 1. At the top, fit 2/0 from Blue 2 into Pink 0.
Solution
Finish by placing 3/6 from Purple 3 into a free tile and 4/0 from Blue 4 into another free tile. Then drop 1/0 from Dark Blue 1 and 5/0 from Green 5 into the remaining free tiles to complete the board.
That resolves today’s Hard layout. Enjoy the rest of your Friday solving streak.