NYT Pips Hints, Solutions and Walkthrough for Monday, June 1, 2026

Monday brings a contemporary set of NYT Pips puzzles to kick off the week. At this time’s lineup provides a balanced problem throughout all three problem tiers, with the Onerous puzzle demanding cautious consideration to zone situations that overlap in tight areas. We have got hints, step-by-step walkthroughs, and full options for Simple, Medium, and Onerous problem ranges.

How you can Play Pips

Pips is a domino placement puzzle the place you fill a grid of color-coded zones. Every zone has a situation you have to fulfill utilizing the pip values in your dominoes. The twist: you have to use each domino and meet each situation to win.

Zone Situations:

• = All pips on this zone should equal the identical quantity
• Not Equal All pips have to be totally different numbers
• > Pips have to be better than the listed quantity
• < Pips have to be lower than the listed quantity
• Actual Quantity Pips should whole that actual worth
• No Shade Free area, any domino worth works

Click on or faucet dominoes to rotate them. Every puzzle has a number of legitimate options.

At this time’s Simple Pips

At this time’s Medium Pips

At this time’s Onerous Pips

Fast Hints (No Spoilers)

Beginning Level: The teal equal zones and purple zero zones present essentially the most inflexible constraints. Lock these in first to slim down the potential positions for each different domino.

Key Perception: The pink (not equal) zones overlap with a number of different coloured zones. Each domino that touches a pink zone should have a singular worth on its pink-side pip, which cascades constraints throughout all the grid.

Watch Out For: The navy (=) zone seems in three separate positions. You want three dominoes inside it, all with matching pip values. The two/2 domino is the one double that matches, however you additionally want two different dominoes whose navy-side values equal one another. The 1/2 and 5/2 placements with 2 on the navy aspect are the important thing.

Step-by-Step Walkthrough

1. 1.Begin with the purple (0) zones. You have got three purple zones requiring a 0 pip. Place 0/5 vertically with 0 in purple (0) and 5 in orange (10). Place 0/2 horizontally with 0 in purple (0) and a pair of in pink (not equal). Place 0/0 horizontally within the remaining purple (0) zone. All three zero situations are happy.
2. 2.Transfer to the teal (=) zones. You want dominoes with matching values on each side. Place 4/4 horizontally in a single teal (=) zone. Place 4/0 vertically so the 4 sits within the second teal (=) zone and 0 crosses into inexperienced (0). Place 4/5 vertically with 4 within the third teal (=) zone and 5 in purple (10). All teal zones now include a domino with worth 4.
3. 3.Now sort out the orange zones. Orange (10) wants dominoes summing to 10. The 0/5 placement contributes 5. The 4/5 placement contributes one other 5. That is 5+5=10. Orange (2) wants dominoes summing to 2. Place 3/1 vertically with 1 in orange (2). Place 1/2 horizontally with 2 in orange (2). The 1+2=3… that is an excessive amount of. Examine: 3/1 provides 1 in orange (2). 1/2 provides 2 in orange (2). 1+2=3. Revisit: the three/1 domino has 3 in pink (3) and 1 in orange (2). The 1/2 domino has 1 in orange (2) and a pair of in navy (=). So orange (2) will get values 1 and 1 = 2. Appropriate.
4. 4.Deal with the pink (not equal) zones. Each worth in every pink zone have to be distinctive. Place 0/2 horizontally (0 in pink). Place 5/3 horizontally (5 and three in pink). Place 1/4 horizontally (1 and 4 in pink). Place 1/6 vertically (1 and 6 in pink). Place 3/1 vertically (3 in pink). Place 2/4 vertically (4 in pink). Confirm: pink zone values are {0,2,5,3,1,4,6} – all distinctive. Second pink zone will get {3,1,4} – all distinctive.
5. 5.Deal with the navy (=) zone. You want all dominoes on this zone to have the identical worth on their navy aspect. Place 5/2 vertically (2 in navy). Place 1/2 horizontally (2 in navy). Place 2/2 horizontally (2 in navy). All three dominoes have worth 2 on the navy aspect. Situation happy.
6. 6.End the remaining zones. Inexperienced (0) will get the 0 from 4/0 vertically. Inexperienced (3) will get the three from 3/0 horizontally. Teal (6) will get the 6 from 1/6 vertically. Pink (3) will get the three from 3/1 vertically. Pink (4) will get the 4 from 2/4 vertically. Navy (1) will get the 1 from 1/4 horizontally. All situations are met and all dominoes are positioned.

Onerous Pips Resolution

Final probability to unravel independently

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1. 1.Place the 0/5 domino vertically within the purple (0) zone and orange (10) zone
2. 2.Place the 0/2 domino horizontally within the purple (0) zone and pink (not equal) zone
3. 3.Place the 4/4 domino horizontally within the teal (=) zone
4. 4.Place the 5/3 domino horizontally within the orange (10) zone and pink (not equal) zone
5. 5.Place the 1/4 domino horizontally within the navy (1) zone and pink (not equal) zone
6. 6.Place the 1/6 domino vertically within the pink (not equal) zone and teal (6) zone
7. 7.Place the 4/0 domino vertically within the teal (=) zone and inexperienced (0) zone
8. 8.Place the 4/5 domino vertically within the teal (=) zone and purple (10) zone
9. 9.Place the three/1 domino vertically within the pink (3) zone and orange (2) zone
10. 10.Place the 5/2 domino vertically within the purple (10) zone and navy (=) zone
11. 11.Place the 1/2 domino horizontally within the orange (2) zone and navy (=) zone
12. 12.Place the two/2 domino horizontally within the navy (=) zone
13. 13.Place the three/0 domino horizontally within the inexperienced (3) zone and purple (0) zone
14. 14.Place the 0/0 domino horizontally within the purple (0) zone
15. 15.Place the two/4 domino vertically within the navy (=) zone and pink (4) zone

Puzzle Debrief

Total Problem: Reasonable problem throughout all three tiers, although the Onerous puzzle calls for essentially the most cautious planning.

Trickiest Puzzle: Onerous – The navy (=) zone showing in three positions is the hidden lure. Most gamers attempt to use three totally different values earlier than realizing all three dominoes should share the identical pip worth on the navy aspect. The two/2 double is the plain play, however recognizing that the 1/2 and 5/2 dominoes additionally contribute a 2 to the navy zone requires trying forward a number of strikes.

Our Take: Monday’s set rewards gamers who suppose in constraints relatively than particular person placements. The zone overlap is heavy in all three puzzles, which implies a nasty early transfer cascades into an unsolvable grid quick. The Simple puzzle provides you adequate respiration room to study this lesson, whereas Onerous punishes you for lacking it. Stable Monday exercise.

Tomorrow’s Pips drops at midnight. See you then.