NYT Pips Hint, Answer & Solution for December 18, 2025

Dec 18, 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

On December 18, 2025 (Thursday), the NYT Pips puzzle set edited by Ian Livengood arrives as a perfect midweek meetup for puzzle fans who enjoy slowing down, thinking deeply, and solving together as a community.

Ease into the day with Easy #426, constructed by Livengood, where a compact grid, friendly equals regions, and approachable sum targets create an inviting entry point. It’s the kind of puzzle that encourages early conversation — ideal for swapping first impressions, spotting patterns, and sharing a quick Pips Hint to get everyone moving in the right direction.

The discussion naturally deepens with Medium #430 by Rodolfo Kurchan. Layered sum regions, well-placed greater-than clues, and strategic empty cells invite collaborative reasoning and comparison of logic paths. This is where solvers pause, debate possibilities, and refine their approach together, turning individual progress into shared insight.

Finish the set with Hard #437, also crafted by Kurchan — a true community challenge. Dense constraints, unequal regions, and interlocking logic chains reward patience and teamwork, delivering those satisfying breakthroughs that feel even better when solutions are compared and celebrated.

Share your solution paths, trade detailed Pips hints, and revisit tricky moments together. This Thursday’s NYT Pips release isn’t just about finishing the puzzles — it’s about discussion, teamwork, and that collective “aha” moment that keeps the community coming back day after day.

Written by Joy

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

Dominoes Include: [6-6], [6-3], [5-4], [4-3], [2-2]. The key is 6 pips.

💡 Hint #1 - Pips Inventory & Bottleneck Scan

Begin by counting high-impact pip values and identifying scarcity. With only two 6s and a single 5 available, any region demanding values greater than 4 becomes immediately constrained, allowing you to forecast where these critical dominoes must eventually land.

💡 Hint #2 - Equal-Region Forcing Through Scarcity

When a numbered region and a high-threshold (>4) region both touch an Equal region, solve the Equal value first. Limited 1-pips force the Light Blue region to lock into 1+1+1, while the Green 8 region can only resolve as 4+4, creating a clean cascade of forced placements.

💡 Hint #3 - Resolve Comparison Regions Early

After anchoring scarce values, comparison regions like >4 become deterministic. With remaining options narrowed, the Red >4 region can only accept a 6, fixing both the domino choice and its orientation without guesswork.

💡 Hint #4 - Endgame Sum Completion

In the final stage, sum regions dictate exact combinations. With only two dominoes left, the Purple 8 region resolves through direct sum completion, and the final placement follows naturally from orientation constraints rather than trial and error.

💡 Hint #1 - Pips Inventory Scan

Begin by listing all available dominoes and scanning for scarce pip values. Identifying how many dominoes contain a critical number (like 2-pips) immediately highlights which regions are constrained and where forced placements are likely to appear later.

💡 Hint #2 - Low-Value Anchor Placement

When a small fixed-number region interacts with a comparison rule (> or <), use the limited pip options to anchor the placement. Here, the restricted set of 2-pip dominoes forces a single viable orientation, locking the surrounding regions into place.

💡 Hint #3 - Equal Region Deduction via Scarcity

Equal regions are best solved by counting remaining high-frequency pips. With only two dominoes containing 5-pips, the Equal region value becomes forced, allowing multiple regions to resolve in a cascading sequence without guesswork.

💡 Hint #4 - Shared-Pip Elimination

When several regions depend on the same pip value, eliminate options by tracking how that value must split across them. Limited 3-pip availability forces a specific pairing, which then cleanly satisfies all connected regions.

💡 Hint #5 - High-Pip Lock-In

As the grid narrows, focus on the largest remaining pip values. If only two dominoes contain a critical high pip (like 6), use Equal-region constraints to determine which half must stay together and which must branch outward.

💡 Hint #6 - Not-Equal Endgame Resolution

In the final phase, Not Equal regions control value separation rather than placement. With most pips already fixed, simply ensure all remaining halves differ — the orientations then fall naturally into place, completing the grid.

🎨 Pips Solver

Dec 18, 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 18, 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 18, 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: [6-6], [6-3], [5-4], [4-3], [2-2].

2

Step 2: Light Blue >5 + Yellow 5 --(Arrows ①②)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. The domino halves in Yellow 5 region must be 3+2. The answer is 6-3 (6 into Light Blue >5 region), placed horizontally; 2-2 (one 2s right into blank), placed horizontally.

3

Step 3: Blue >5 + Red 9 --(Arrows ③④)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (6-6, 5-4, 4-3). The domino halves in Red 9 region must be 6+3. The answer is 6-6 (one 6s into Blue >5 region), placed vertically; 3-4 (4 into Purple Equal region), placed vertically.

4

Step 4: Purple Equal --(Arrows ⑤)

The domino halves in this region must be 4. The answer is 4-5 (5 down into blank), placed vertically.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level

1

Step 1

Dominoes Include: [6-3], [6-1], [5-1], [4-3], [4-1], [3-3], [2-0]. Only two 6s and one 5s for Red >4 region, Yellow >4 region and Blue 6 region.

2

Step 2: Light Blue 3 + Blue 6 + Yellow >4 + Green 8 --(Arrows ①②③④)

Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. Only 3 dominoes with 1 pips (6-1, 5-1, 4-1). The domino halves in Light Blue 3 region must be 1+1+1. The domino halves in Green 8 region must be 4+4. The answer is 6-1 (6 into Blue 6 region), placed vertically; 5-1 (5 into Yellow >4 region ), placed horizontally; 1-4, placed vertically; 4-3 (3 right into blank), placed horizontally.

3

Step 3: Red >4 --(Arrows ⑤)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (6-3, 3-3, 2-0). The answer is 6-3 (3 down into blank), placed vertically.

4

Step 4: Purple 8 --(Arrows ⑥⑦)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (3-3, 2-0). The domino halves in this region must be 3+3+2. The answer is 3-3, placed vertically; 2-0 (0 right into blank), placed horizontally.

🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level

1

Step 1

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

2

Step 2: Blue 2 + Yellow >2 --(Arrows ①)

Confirmed by neighboring region and the dominoes with 2 pips (4-2, 2-2, 2-1). The answer is 2-4 (4 into Yellow >2 region), placed vertically.

3

Step 3: Light Blue 5 + Purple Equal + Light Blue 0 + Red 5 --(Arrows ②③④)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes with 5 pips (5-5, 5-3). The domino halves in Purple Equal region must be 3. The answer is 5-3 (5 into Light Blue 5 region, 3 into Purple Equal region), placed horizontally; 3-0 (0 into Light Blue 0 region), placed vertically; 5-5 (one 5s into Red 5 region, one 5s into Green Not Equal region), placed vertically.

4

Step 4: Purple 2 + Bottom Yellow 3 + Green 2 --(Arrows ⑤⑥)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes with 3 pips (4-3, 3-3, 3-1). The domino halves in Purple 2 region must be 1+1. The answer is 1-3 (3 into Bottom Yellow 3 region), placed horizontally; 1-2 (2 into Green 2 region), placed horizontally.

5

Step 5: Light Blue 6 + Red Equal + Left Yellow 3 + Blue 6 --(Arrows ⑦⑧⑨)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (6-4, 6-1, 4-4, 4-3, 3-3, 2-2, 1-0). Only two dominoes left that contains 6 pips (6-4, 6-1). The domino halves in Red Equal region must be 4. The answer is 6-4 (6 into Light Blue 6 region), placed horizontally; 4-3 (3 into Left Yellow 3 region), placed vertically; 6-1 (6 into Blue 6 region, 1 into Green Not Equal region), placed vertically

6

Step 6: Green Not Equal --(Arrows ⑩⑪⑫⑬)

Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (4-4, 3-3, 2-2, 1-0). The domino halves in Green Not Equal region must be different. 5s and 1s already placed in this region. The answer is 1-0 (1 into Red 1 region), placed horizontally; 3-3 (one 3s into Purple Equal region), placed horizontally; 4-4 (one 4s into Blue 4 region), placed horizontally; 2-2 (one 2s left into blank), placed horizontally. So the domino halves in Green Not Equal region must be 5+1+0+3+4+2.

🎥 NYTpips Strategy Breakdown 🔍 | Smart Entry & Exit Pips Logic

Watch closely as key move patterns and logical clues unfold in seconds!

💡 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

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