About Pips NYT Hints

Daily hints written by solvers who complete every puzzle before you read a word.

👋 Who We Are

A
Alex M. — Puzzle Editor & Lead Solver
Logic puzzle enthusiast · NYT Games player since 2022

I came to Pips from a background in mathematical logic puzzles — Kakuro, Slitherlink, Nurikabe. When NYT launched Pips, it immediately clicked: the domino constraint system rewards the same kind of chain-deduction thinking I'd been practicing for years. I started solving daily from the first week and began publishing hints when I realized there was nowhere online with step-by-step walkthroughs that explained the why behind each placement, not just the answer.

500+
Puzzles solved & analyzed
3
Difficulty levels covered daily
0
Days missed since launch
Daily
New hints published

A small supporting team helps with site development and quality checks, but every hint and walkthrough starts with a human solve — no shortcuts, no automated solutions posted without verification.

⚙️ How We Create Each Day's Hints

We don't just post the answer. Every day follows the same process:

1
Solve it ourselves
We complete all three difficulties — Easy, Medium, and Hard — before writing a single word. This is non-negotiable.
2
Map the logic chain
We trace which constraint forces the first move, how that unlocks the second, and what the full deduction sequence looks like — not just which domino goes where.
3
Write progressive hints
Hints are layered: the first nudges you in the right direction without spoiling the solve; the last gives the complete answer. You choose how much help you want.
4
Verify & publish
Solutions are cross-checked against the puzzle data before going live. We publish daily, typically within a few hours of the new puzzle's release.

🧠 What We've Learned Solving 500+ Puzzles

After solving every Pips puzzle across all three difficulties, a few things stand out:

  • The first move is almost always a single-cell constraint. Sum constraints on isolated cells name a pip value outright. Finding these first is the fastest way into any difficulty level.
  • Equals regions are the real workhorses. Multi-cell equals regions do more structural work than any other constraint type — they propagate a value across the board and often unlock three or four subsequent placements.
  • Hard puzzles rarely require guessing. Despite the complexity, every hard puzzle we've encountered has a clean logical path from start to finish. If you feel like you need to guess, there's usually a constraint you haven't fully exploited yet.
  • Constructor style varies noticeably. Ian Livengood tends to build grids around two independent anchor points; Rodolfo Kurchan favors long equals chains that span the board. Recognizing the pattern early helps.

These observations directly shape how we write our hints — we focus on the constraint type and the chain it triggers, not just the end position.

🎯 Our Editorial Standards

We hold ourselves to three rules, without exception:

  • Accuracy first. A wrong hint is worse than no hint. Every solution is verified against the puzzle's own data structure before publishing.
  • Explain the logic, not just the answer. Anyone can post a screenshot of the solved board. What makes a walkthrough useful is understanding why a domino goes where it does — which constraint forced it, and what it unlocks next.
  • No spoilers without consent. Our progressive hint system exists so you can get exactly as much help as you want — a nudge, a push, or the full solution — without having the answer forced on you.

Try Today's Hints

Every puzzle, every difficulty, solved and explained. See today's hints and find exactly how much help you need.

View Today's Pips Hints →