New to the New York Times’ domino puzzle? Here is everything you need in about two minutes — the board, the tiles, and what each symbol is asking for.
The goal
Pips gives you a grid divided into coloured regions and a tray ofdominoes. You place every domino onto the grid so that each region’s rule is satisfied. When all dominoes are placed and no rule is broken, the puzzle is solved.
Each domino covers exactly two neighbouring cells, and each half shows a number of pips from 0 to 6 — the same tiles as a standard double-six set.
The board at a glance
| Region | Rule | Cells |
|---|---|---|
| Blue | <1 — Add up to less than 1 | 4 |
| Purple | 2 — Be exactly 2 | 1 |
| Green | 2 — Be exactly 2 | 1 |
| Amber | >2 — Be more than 2 | 1 |
| Orange | Take any value it likes | 1 |
| Slate | 2 — Add up to exactly 2 | 2 |
What the symbols mean
This is the part most new players get stuck on. Every region carries one of these rules on the pip values inside it:
Sum equals N
All pips in the region add up to exactly N.
All equal
Every cell in the region shows the same number of pips.
Not equal
No two cells in the region may show the same value.
Greater than N
The region total must be more than N.
Less than N
The region total must stay under N.
No rule
A blank region accepts any values — useful breathing room.
Step by step, the first time
Why “most constrained first” works
It is not just a habit — it is measurable. An “all equal” region has only seven possible value sets no matter how big it is, because every cell must show the same number. A three-cell region with no rule has 343. Starting where the choices are fewest means each tile you place eliminates far more of what remains.
Our own solver uses exactly this rule, and our daily hints name the tightest region first for the same reason.