The New York Times has a new puzzle game on its hands, and it is called Pips. Released in August 2025, the game puts a spin on dominoes by adding color-coded conditions, and it has become a daily habit for players who enjoy a quick, single-player challenge. For anyone stuck on the September 20, 2026, puzzle, the Times has published piecemeal answers that serve as hints for each difficulty level.
How Pips Works
Pips is a dominoes game with a twist. Tiles are placed vertically or horizontally, just like traditional dominoes, but the touching tiles don’t have to match. Instead, the color-coded spaces around them carry conditions. A space marked with a single number requires every side of a tile within that space to add up to that number. An “Equal” space demands every domino half in it be the same number of pips. A “Not Equal” space requires every half to have a completely different number. “Less than” and “Greater than” spaces set limits on the total. Spaces with no color coding have no conditions at all.
The rules are simple to state but hard to follow without practice. The game also allows only half a tile to sit inside a colored space, which adds a layer of complication. Players must balance the pips across multiple tiles and spaces while meeting conditions that overlap and conflict.
Easy and Medium Answers
The Times has provided answers for every difficulty level, and the easy and medium hints cover a wide range of conditions. Here is a quick look at what each difficulty requires:
| Difficulty | Condition | Example Hint |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | Number (1) | 1-4, placed vertically |
| Medium | Greater Than (3) | 6-5, placed vertically |
| Medium | Equal (2) | 4-2, placed horizontally |
| Medium | Less Than (3) | 1-6, placed horizontally |
The easy answers tend to be single-number sums that are easy to spot. A “Number (1)” space in the easy level is solved with a 1-4 tile placed vertically, with the 1 side sitting inside the space. A “Number (8)” space uses a 4-2 or 1-4 tile, and a “Number (9)” space uses a 0-6 or 3-1 tile. The “Equal (0)” space has multiple answers, including 0-0 and 0-6, both placed vertically.
The medium difficulty adds greater than and less than conditions. A “Greater Than (3)” space in the medium level can be solved with a 6-5 tile placed vertically or a 4-2 tile placed horizontally. A “Less Than (3)” space uses a 1-6 tile placed horizontally. The “Equal (2)” space has several answers, including 4-2, 2-3, and 2-5, placed horizontally or vertically. A “Number (9)” space in orange or dark blue uses 2-3 or 1-6 placed horizontally, and a purple or red space uses 2-5 or 4-5.
Hard Difficulty Answers
The hard level is where the conditions get dense. A “Less Than (3)” space requires a 1-0 tile placed vertically. A “Greater Than (3)” space uses a 5-2 tile placed vertically or a 0-4 tile placed vertically. An “Equal (0)” space has many answers, including 1-0, 0-4, 0-0, and 0-6. A “Number (8)” space uses 5-2 or 0-6 placed vertically or horizontally.
The hard level also introduces new conditions. A “Number (10)” space uses a 5-5 tile placed horizontally. A “Less Than (2)” space and a “Greater Than (4)” space both use a 0-5 tile placed vertically. An “Equal (1)” space uses 1-4 or 1-1 placed vertically. A “Greater Than (3)” space uses 1-4 placed vertically. A “Number (5)” space uses a 3-2 tile placed vertically. A “Number (9)” space in red uses 5-1, 6-2, or 2-0 placed horizontally or vertically.
What This Tells Us About Pips
The sheer volume of answers tells you something about Pips. The Times is treating it as a serious daily game, worth the effort of publishing individual hints for every difficulty level. That is a notable commitment from a publication known for its crossword and Sudoku columns. Pips has clearly found its way into the daily routine of enough readers that the Times thinks it worth the trouble.
The game’s structure is also worth noting. The conditions are simple to explain but hard to apply. A single tile can fill multiple conditions at once, and a space can span two tiles, which means the solution to one area affects the solution to another. That is a clever design choice, and it makes Pips a more satisfying game than a simple matching puzzle.
The hints themselves are piecemeal, which means they show a tile or two rather than the whole solution. That is a fair compromise. Players get enough information to nudge them forward without giving away the entire board, which keeps the game interesting even when the answer is close at hand.
The Bottom Line
Pips is a clever game with a simple premise. The color-coded conditions add enough depth to keep it interesting, and the daily puzzles give players a reason to return. The Times’ hints for September 20, 2026, are a useful resource for anyone stuck, and the piecemeal approach means players can get unstuck without spoiling the whole board.
The game is a good example of what a puzzle should be. It is easy to learn, hard to master, and full of small satisfactions. If you have a few minutes and a love of dominoes, it is worth checking out.
The September 20, 2026, puzzle is a good place to start. The hints are here, and the answers are piecemeal, so you can work your way toward the solution without the game forcing you to give up and start over.
Source material: “NYT Pips hints, answers for September 20, 2026,” Mashable.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.