NYT Pips Hint, Answer & Solution for December 16, 2025

Dec 16, 2025

🚨 SPOILER WARNING

This page contains the final **answer** and the complete **solution** to today's NYT Pips puzzle. If you haven't attempted the puzzle yet and want to try solving it yourself first, now's your chance!

Click here to play today's official NYT Pips game first.

Want hints instead? Scroll down for progressive clues that won't spoil the fun.

🎲 Today's Puzzle Overview

Released on December 16, 2025 (Tuesday), the NYT Pips set edited by Ian Livengood delivers a clearly tiered logic workout — an ideal mid-week session for players who enjoy tracking structure, refining technique, and measuring performance one grid at a time.

Easy #427 opens with 6 dominoes, targeted sum clues, clean equals regions, and carefully placed empty cells.

It’s a compact grid designed for rapid logic calibration, perfect for warming up your pattern recognition and spotting early Pips Hints without overloading the board.

Medium #431 raises the analytical demand with unequal zones, layered comparison rules, and multiple equals pairs spread across the grid.

This puzzle rewards efficient constraint reading and smart sequencing, encouraging solvers to slow down, test assumptions, and compare alternative solution paths as the logic tightens.

Hard #438, constructed by Rodolfo Kurchan, expands the challenge significantly.

With 13 dominoes, extensive equals clusters, chained greater-than and less-than rules, and a wide layout, this grid invites deep, methodical breakdown. Each placement matters, making it a satisfying exercise in systematic decomposition, disciplined path-finding, and long-form reasoning.

As a Tuesday release, December 16 offers a balanced progression — approachable, demanding, and ultimately rewarding — with plenty of moments to pause, review your strategy, and refine your NYT Pips solving habits one insight at a time.

Written by Lucas

Puzzle Analyst – Mark

💡 Progressive Hints

Try these hints one at a time. Each hint becomes more specific to help you solve it yourself!

💡 Hint #1 - Observe

Starting from individual data points.

💡 Hint #1 - Top Red Equal

The domino halves in this region must be 0.

💡 Hint #2 - Bottom Red Equal

The domino halves in this region must be 5.

💡 Hint #1 - Step 1 – Pips Inventory Check

Start by counting critical pip values. When a large Equal region is present, inventory how many matching halves exist (here, 0-pips). This immediately tells you which value the Equal region must lock into and which dominoes are constrained before placement even begins.

💡 Hint #2 - Step 2 – Anchor the Equal Region

When an Equal region touches both a fixed-number region and a comparison (> or <) region, solve the Equal value first. Here, the scarcity of 2-pips forces the Equal region to become 4, which then cascades clean placements into all adjacent regions.

💡 Hint #3 - Step 3 – Pair Scarcity Logic

If two numbered regions demand the same value, look for forced pairs. Limited availability of 1-pips means the Equal region can only be satisfied one way, making this step about eliminating impossibilities rather than guessing.

💡 Hint #4 - Step 4 – Zero Flood Strategy

Large Equal regions often resolve to the lowest available pip once higher values are consumed. After eliminating other options, flood the grid with zeros, then use < and > constraints to correctly orient each domino half without ambiguity.

💡 Hint #5 - Step 5 – Endgame Split Resolution

When only two dominoes remain, comparison regions decide orientation, not placement. A Not Equal region tells you which values must separate, while a > constraint fixes direction — letting the final placements fall into place naturally.

🎨 Pips Solver

Dec 16, 2025

Click a domino to place it on the board. You can also click the board, and the correct domino will appear.

✅ Final Answer & Complete Solution For Hard Level

The key to solving today's hard puzzle was identifying the placement for the critical dominoes highlighted in the starting grid. Once those were in place, the rest of the puzzle could be solved logically. See the final grid below to compare your solution.

Starting Position & Key First Steps

Pips hint for December 16, 2025 – hard level puzzle grid with critical first placements and strategy

This image shows the initial puzzle grid for the hard level, with a few critical first placements highlighted.

Final Answer: The Solved Grid for Hard Mode

NYT Pips December 16, 2025 hard puzzle full solution grid showing final answer with hints

Compare this final grid with your own solution to see the correct placement of all dominoes.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Easy Level

1

Step 1

Dominoes Include: [6-3], [5-2], [4-3], [3-2], [3-1], [0-0]

2

Step 2: Purple 0 + Red 0 --(Arrows ①②)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. The domino halves in Red 0 region must be 0+1. The answer is 0-0, placed vertically; 3-1 (3 left into blank), placed horizontally.

3

Step 3: Green 6 + Blue 8 --(Arrows ③④)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes. The domino halves in Blue 8 region must be 3+5. The answer is 6-3 (6 into Green 6 region), placed horizontally; 5-2 (2 left into blank), placed horizontally.

4

Step 4: Light Blue Equal + Yellow >3 --(Arrows ⑤⑥)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes. The domino halves in Light Blue Equal region must be 3. The answer is 3-4 (4 into Yellow >3 region), placed vertically; 3-2 (2 down into blank), placed vertically.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level

1

Step 1

Dominoes Include: [6-1], [5-5], [5-3], [4-4], [3-0], [1-1], [1-0]. Only 2 dominoes with 3 pips (5-3, 3-0) for Number 3 regions.

2

Step 2: Top Purple 3 + Top Red Equal + Light Blue <2 --(Arrows ①②)

Confirmed by all regions and step 1 and relative position. The domino halves in Top Red Equal region must be 0. The answer is 3-0 (3 into Top Purple 3 region), placed horizontally; 0-1 (1 into Light Blue <2 region), placed horizontally.

3

Step 3: Bottom Purple 3 + Bottom Red Equal + Light Blue <2 --(Arrows ③④)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (6-1, 5-5, 5-3, 4-4, 1-1). The domino halves in Bottom Red Equal region must be 5. The answer is 3-5 (3 into Bottom Purple 3 region), placed vertically; 5-5 (one 5s left into Green Not Equal region), placed horizontally.

4

Step 4: Green Not Equal + Yellow <5 --(Arrows ⑤⑥)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 3 and remaining dominoes (6-1, 4-4, 1-1). The domino halves in Green Not Equal region must be 5+1+6+4. The answer is 1-6, placed vertically; 4-4 (one 4s up into Yellow <5 region), placed vertically.

5

Step 5: Blue Equal --(Arrows ⑦)

The answer is 1-1, placed vertically.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level

1

Step 1

Dominoes Include: [6-4], [6-1], [6-0], [5-3], [5-0], [4-4], [4-3], [4-2], [3-0], [2-1], [2-0], [1-0], [0-0]. Only 7 domino halves that contain 0 pips for Green Equal region.

2

Step 2: Bottom Light Blue 2 + Purple Equal + Yellow >3 --(Arrows ①②③)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. Only 3 dominoes with 2 pips (4-2, 2-1, 2-0). The domino halves in Purple Equal region must be 4. The dominoes with 4 pips (6-4, 4-4, 4-3, 4-2). The answer is 2-4 (2 into Bottom Light Blue 2 region), placed vertically; 4-6 (6 into Yellow >3 region), placed horizontally; 4-4, placed horizontally.

3

Step 3: Yellow 2 + Top Light Blue 2 --(Arrows ④⑤)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes. The domino halves in Top Light Blue 2 region must be 1+1. Only 3 dominoes left that with 1 pips (6-1, 2-1, 1-0). The answer is 2-1 (2 into Yellow 2 region), placed horizontally; 1-6 (6 up into blank), placed vertically.

4

Step 4: Green Equal + Red <2 + Yellow <3 + Blue <4 + Red <6 --(Arrows ⑥⑦⑧⑨⑩⑪)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (6-0, 5-3, 5-0, 4-3, 3-0, 2-0, 1-0, 0-0). The domino halves in Green Equal region must be 0. The answer is 1-0 (1 into Red <2 region), placed horizontally; 2-0 (2 into Yellow <3 region), placed vertically; 3-0 (3 into Blue <4 region), placed horizontally; 0-5 (5 into Red <6 region), placed horizontally; 0-0, placed horizontally; 0-6 (6 up into blank), placed vertically.

5

Step 5: Purple Not Equal + Red >4 --(Arrows ⑫⑬)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (5-3, 4-3). The domino halves in Purple Not Equal region must be 3+4. The answer is 5-3 (5 into Red >4 region), placed horizontally; 4-3 (3 up into blank), placed vertically.

🎥 NYT Pips Strategy Tip 🧩 | How to Read the Grid Faster (Pips Hint Inside)

Use early Pips Hints to control the grid before it gets crowded.

💡 Pro Tips for Similar Puzzles

Start with Constraints

Always begin with the most constrained regions - sum regions with small numbers or tight spaces.

Use Equal Regions

Use "equal" regions as anchors - they eliminate many possibilities quickly.

Work Systematically

Let the rules guide your placement rather than guessing randomly.

Double-Check

Verify each region's rules are satisfied before moving to the next.

🎓 Keep Learning & Improve

🧠 Strategy Guide

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