🚨 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 24, 2025 (Wednesday), the NYT Pips puzzles deliver a clean, data-driven progression under the editorial guidance of Ian Livengood, ideal for solvers who love measurable challenge and logical structure.
Easy #447 provides a controlled grid with clear equals and sum regions—perfect for warming up deduction flow.
Medium #451 increases complexity through layered constraints and tighter grid interactions, rewarding disciplined elimination.
Hard #456, constructed by Rodolfo Kurchan, expands the test with a larger grid, multi-cell sums, and zero regions that truly test your skills in domino tracking and logic efficiency.
This is a satisfying end-of-day puzzle set for anyone focused on performance, structure, and mastering the solution path.
Written by Ander
Puzzle Analyst – Sophia
💡 Progressive Hints
Try these hints one at a time. Each hint becomes more specific to help you solve it yourself!
💡 Hint #1 - So easy
Just do it.
💡 Hint #1 - Global Count & Scarcity Scan
Start with a full inventory check. Count how many domino halves show key values (especially 0s and 4s). With only three 4-pip dominoes available and two separate 4-sum regions, you immediately know those regions will consume nearly all 4s. This scarcity insight sets the backbone of the solve.
💡 Hint #2 - Lock Equal Regions First
Use Equal regions as anchors. By combining adjacency constraints with limited-value counts, you can deduce that the Purple Equal region must be 1s and the Red 3 region must split as 0+3. Placing these forces the two 4-sum regions to take the remaining 4s, sharply reducing uncertainty.
💡 Hint #3 - Resolve Zero Isolation
When an Equal region can only be satisfied by a single remaining option, place it immediately. Here, Yellow Equal can only be solved by the 0-0 domino, cleanly isolating all remaining zeros and preventing conflicts later.
💡 Hint #4 - Use Inequalities to Finish
With most values placed, use > and sum constraints to close the puzzle. Purple >7 must absorb the largest remaining pips, while Green 4 is resolved by pairing the leftover compatible values. At this stage, inequalities act as confirmation tools rather than guesses.
💡 Hint #1 - Global Count & Region Budget
Start with a full domino inventory and count critical pips (0, 1, 5, 6). Match these counts against fixed-sum regions (Purple 0, Purple 12, Blue 11, Light Blue 2). When supply exactly equals demand, those pips become locked targets. Early global counting is the core Pips Hint here.
💡 Hint #2 - High-Value Anchors First
Prioritize regions that demand rare high pips. With only three 6s available, place them immediately into Purple 12 and Red 6 using adjacency constraints. Anchoring high values early reduces branching and stabilizes the grid.
💡 Hint #3 - Forced Pair Completion
Once Blue 11 is isolated, its sum forces a 5+6 combination. Use this to place 0 elsewhere safely. This Pips Hint focuses on finishing constrained regions as soon as their composition becomes inevitable.
💡 Hint #4 - Chain Deductions Across Equals & Small Sums
Link multiple regions at once: Equal regions fix exact pip values, small-sum regions restrict options sharply. Solve these together to trigger a cascade of forced placements instead of tackling them one by one.
💡 Hint #5 - Validate Large-Sum Regions Late
After most low and medium pips are placed, revisit large-sum regions like Purple 12. At this stage, only one domino combination fits, turning a complex region into a simple confirmation step.
💡 Hint #6 - Exhaust the Remainder Cleanly
With only two dominoes left, use neighboring constraints to finalize Light Blue 12. This final Pips Hint emphasizes clean endgame play: no guessing, just elimination and confirmation.
🎨 Pips Solver
Dec 24, 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
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
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: [6-4], [6-3], [6-2], [3-1], [2-0].
2
Step 2: Blue 1 + Green Equal + Light Blue 12 + Red >3 --(Arrows ①②③)
Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. Only one domino with 1 pips (3-1). The domino halves in Green Equal region must be 3. The domino halves in Light Blue 12 region must be 6+6. The answer is 1-3 (1 into Blue 1 region), placed horizontally; 3-6, placed vertically; 6-4 (4 into Red >3 region), placed horizontally.
3
Step 3: Yellow 6 + Purple Equal --(Arrows ④⑤)
Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (6-2, 2-0). The domino halves in Purple Equal region must be 2. The answer is 6-2 (6 into Yellow 6 region), placed vertically; 2-0 (0 up into blank), placed vertically.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Medium Level
1
Step 1
Dominoes Include: [5-5], [4-3], [4-1], [4-0], [3-1], [1-0], [0-0]. Only 3 dominoes with 4 pips (4-3, 4-1, 4-0), need two for Blue 4 region and light Blue 4 region.
2
Step 2: Light Blue 4 + Red 3 + Purple Equal + Blue 4 --(Arrows ①②③)
Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. The domino halves in Red 3 region must be 0+3. The domino halves in Purple Equal region must be 1. The answer is 4-0 (4 into Light Blue 4 region), placed horizontally; 3-1, placed horizontally; 1-4 (4 into Blue 4 region), placed vertically.
3
Step 3: Yellow Equal --(Arrows ④)
Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (5-5, 4-3, 1-0, 0-0). The answer is 0-0 (whole domino), placed vertically.
4
Step 4: Purple >7 + Green 4 --(Arrows ⑤⑥⑦)
Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes (5-5, 4-3, 1-0). The domino halves in Green 4 region must be 4+0 or 3+1. e.g: The answer is 5-5 (one 5s into blank, one 5s into Purple >7 region), placed horizontally; 3-4 (3 into Purple >7 region), placed horizontally; 0-1 (1 up into blank), placed vertically.
🔧 Step-by-Step Answer Walkthrough For Hard Level
1
Step 1
Dominoes Include: [6-5], [6-4], [6-1], [5-1], [5-0], [4-3], [4-2], [4-0], [3-3], [3-2], [3-0], [2-1]. Only 3 domino halves that contain 0 pips, need two for Purple 0 region, need one for Yellow 0 region. Need one domino sum to be 6 placed in Purple 12 region. Only 3 domino halves that contain 6 pips, need one for Purple 12 region, need one for Red 6 region, need one for Blue 11 region. Only 3 domino halves that contain 5 pips, need one for Blue 5 region, need one for Blue 11 region. Only 3 domino halves that contain 1 pips, need two for Light Blue 2 region. Neighboring region is very important in this puzzle.
2
Step 2: Blue 5 + Red 6 --(Arrows ①②)
Confirmed by neighboring region and step 1 and relative position. Only 3 dominoes with 6 pips (6-5, 6-4, 6-1) The answer is 5-6 (5 into Blue 5 region, 6 into Purple 12 region), placed vertically; 6-4 (6 into Red 6 region, 4 into Light Blue 12 region), placed horizontally.
3
Step 3: Yellow 0 + Blue 11 --(Arrows ③④)
Confirmed by neighboring region and remaining dominoes. The domino halves in Blue 11 region must be 5+6. The answer is 0-5 (0 into Yellow region), placed vertically; 6-1 (1 left into blank), placed horizontally.
4
Step 4: Yellow 4 + Green Equal + Red 11 + Light Blue 2 --(Arrows ⑤⑥⑦⑧⑨)
Confirmed by all left regions and remaining dominoes (5-1, 4-3, 4-2, 4-0, 3-3, 3-2, 3-0, 2-1). The domino halves in Green Equal region must be 2. The domino halves in Red 11 region must be 3+3+5. The domino halves in Light Blue 2 region must be 1+1. The answer is 4-2 (4 into Yellow 4 region), placed vertically; 2-3, placed horizontally; 3-0 (0 into Purple 0 region), placed horizontally; 5-1, placed horizontally; 1-2 (2 down into blank), placed vertically.
5
Step 5: Purple 12 --(Arrows ⑩)
Confirmed by neighboring region and step 2 and remaining dominoes (4-3, 4-0, 3-3). The answer is 3-3 (whole domino), placed horizontally. So the domino halves in this region must be 6+3+3.
6
Step 6: Light Blue 12 --(Arrows ⑪⑫)
Confirmed by neighboring region and step 2 and remaining dominoes (4-3, 4-0). The answer is 4-0 (0 into purple 0 region, the purple 0 region done), placed vertically; 4-3 (3 down into blank), placed vertically. So the domino halves in this region must be 4+4+4.
🎥 NYT Pips Puzzle – December 24, 2025 (Wednesday) | Smart Pips Hints
In this video, we walk through all three grids with a Pips Hint–driven strategy.
💡 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.
💬 Community Discussion
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