NYT Pips tips, December 19 answers

Welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalog.

Released in August 2025, Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.

Currently, if you get stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to go to the next difficulty level and start over. Well, we’ve got you covered! Below are a few answers that will serve as tips so you can find your way through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you have ever played dominoes, you will have a passing familiarity with how Pips is played. As we shared in our previous Pips stories, tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and are connected to each other. The main difference between the traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the colored situations you have to deal with. Touching tiles do not have to be the same.

The conditions you must meet are specific to colored spaces. For example, if it gives a single number, all sides of the tile in that space must add up to the given number. It is possible – and common – for half of the tile to be inside a colored space.

Here are some common examples you’ll encounter at all difficulty levels:

• Number: All pipes in this space must include a number.

• It’s equal: Every domino part in this space must be the same number of tiles.

• It doesn’t fit: Every domino part in this space must have a completely different number of pipes.

• Less than: Every domino part in this space must add up to less than a number.

• Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than a number.

If an area has no color coding, then there are no shapes in the dominoes within those spaces.

Tips for easy difficulty, answers for Dec. 19 Pips

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 5-3, placed face up.

Number (0): Everything in this space must sum to 0. The answer is 0-6, placed upside down.

Equivalent (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 5-3, placed face up; 3-0, placed horizontally.

Under (5): Everything in this light blue space must be less than 5. The answer is 6-4, placed horizontally.

Number (12): Everything in this space must add up to 12. The answer is 6-6, placed face up.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for Dec. 19 Pips

Equivalent (1): Everything in this space must be equal to 1. The answer is 1-1, placed horizontally.

Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 5-0, placed face up.

Equality (0): Everything in this space must be equal to 0. The answer is 1-0, placed horizontally; 5-0, placed vertically; 0-0, placed horizontally.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 3-4, placed face up.

Equivalent (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 4-4, placed face up.

Number (9): Everything in this space must add up to 9. The answer is 6-5, placed horizontally; 3-4, placed vertically.

Hard difficulty tips, answers for Dec. 19 Pips

Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 6-2, placed upside down; 1-4, placed horizontally.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 1-4, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 5-6, placed horizontally.

Number (9): Everything in this space must add up to 9. The answer is 3-3, placed face up; 3-2, placed horizontally.

Number (6): Everything in this dark blue space must add up to 6. The answer is 3-2, placed horizontally; 2-2, placed vertically.

Number (7): Everything in this space must add up to 7. The answer is 3-6, placed horizontally; 4-5, placed vertically.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add up to 10. The answer is 5-5, placed face up.

Number (9): Everything in this space must add up to 9. The answer is 4-5, placed upside down; 4-0, placed vertically.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add up to 2. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally; 1-1, placed horizontally.

Number (1): Everything in this space must add up to 1. The answer is 1-1, placed horizontally; 4-0, placed vertically.

If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable has games now! Check out our games hub of Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.