Online outlet Mashable has published hints and solutions for the daily Pips puzzle from The New York Times catalogue for 25 July 2026. The game appeared in August 2025 and offers a single-player, domino-inspired format.
In Pips, tiles are placed vertically or horizontally, connecting them to one another as in classic dominoes. At the same time there are additional coloured condition zones: in these cells you must follow specific rules regarding the number of “pips” on the halves of the tiles.
The main types of conditions in the game:
- Number – all pips in this zone must add up to the stated number.
- Equal – each half of every domino in the zone must have the same number of pips.
- Not Equal – all halves in the zone must have different numbers of pips.
- Less than – the total number of pips on each half in the zone must be less than the specified number.
- Greater than – the total number of pips must be greater than the given number.
If an area of the grid is not highlighted in colour, there are no additional restrictions on the tiles placed there.
The Mashable piece provides step-by-step solutions for all three difficulty levels of the daily puzzle for 25 July — Easy, Medium and Hard. For each coloured zone, it specifies the type of condition (Number, Equal, Less Than, Greater Than), the required value, and the exact domino combinations, indicating precisely how they should be placed — vertically or horizontally.
For example, for the Easy level it gives ready-made answers for zones with Equal (3), Number (8), Less Than (2) and Greater Than (7) conditions. For the Medium level it sets out several Number zones with different target totals, as well as examples for Less Than (3) and Equal (3). At the Hard level, it offers detailed solutions for Equal and Number zones with various values, including those where the total must be zero.
The authors stress that such staged hints allow players not to reveal the entire solution at once, but to get help only for individual zones and work out the full solution to the puzzle on their own.