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Pips answer for Sep 16

Hints get stronger as you go. The answer is always the last step — nothing is revealed until you tap.

Easy Pips · 5 dominoes · by Ian Livengood

  1. 1Easy: the empty boardShow hint
    >4<4=<1=<6
    Easy Pips board with its regions
  2. 2Easy: one domino to get you goingShow hint
    >4<4=<1=<6
    Easy Pips with one domino placed
  3. 3Easy: halfway thereShow hint
    >4<4=<1=<6
    Easy Pips with 3 dominoes placed
  4. 4Easy: full solutionShow answer
    >4<4=<1=<6
    Solved Easy Pips board

    This is the official solution. Pips boards sometimes allow more than one valid arrangement — if yours satisfies every region, it counts.

Medium Pips · 7 dominoes · by Ian Livengood

  1. 1Medium: the empty boardShow hint
    >3==3<3==
    Medium Pips board with its regions
  2. 2Medium: one domino to get you goingShow hint
    >3==3<3==
    Medium Pips with one domino placed
  3. 3Medium: halfway thereShow hint
    >3==3<3==
    Medium Pips with 4 dominoes placed
  4. 4Medium: full solutionShow answer
    >3==3<3==
    Solved Medium Pips board

    This is the official solution. Pips boards sometimes allow more than one valid arrangement — if yours satisfies every region, it counts.

Hard Pips · 13 dominoes · by Rodolfo Kurchan

  1. 1Hard: the empty boardShow hint
    74101115<521444
    Hard Pips board with its regions
  2. 2Hard: one domino to get you goingShow hint
    74101115<521444
    Hard Pips with one domino placed
  3. 3Hard: halfway thereShow hint
    74101115<521444
    Hard Pips with 7 dominoes placed
  4. 4Hard: full solutionShow answer
    74101115<521444
    Solved Hard Pips board

    This is the official solution. Pips boards sometimes allow more than one valid arrangement — if yours satisfies every region, it counts.

How to play Pips

Pips is a domino puzzle: place every domino on the board so each colored region meets its rule. A number means the pips in that region add up to it, = means every half in the region shows the same number, ≠ means they're all different, and < or > set a limit on the region's total. Uncolored cells have no rule.

Start with single-cell regions and tight sums — they often allow only one domino — and remember that a domino can straddle two regions.

Past puzzles