NYT Pips Hints and Answers for Dec. 23: Your Guide to Today's Puzzle

Stuck on today's Pips? You're not alone. The New York Times' latest single-player game, released in August 2025, puts a unique spin on dominoes and is quickly becoming a daily habit for puzzle lovers. If the game's official 'reveal puzzle' option is too much of a spoiler, we've got you covered with piecemeal hints to get you through each difficulty level.

How to Play Pips

If you've played dominoes, the basic concept of Pips will feel familiar. You place tiles vertically or horizontally to connect with each other. The twist comes from color-coded spaces on the board. Unlike traditional dominoes, the touching tiles don't need to match. Instead, they must satisfy the condition of the colored zone they occupy. It's common for a single tile to span multiple zones.

Pips Hints and Answers for December 23

Easy Difficulty

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Purple Space (Sum 2): Place the 2-3 tile vertically. Red Space (Sum 2): Place the 2-1 tile vertically. Space (Sum 8): Place the 2-3 and 5-1 tiles vertically. Space (Sum 12): Place the 1-6 and 6-4 tiles horizontally. Space (Sum 8): Place the 6-4 tile horizontally and the 5-4 tile vertically.

Medium Difficulty

Purple Space (Sum 3): Place the 3-6 tile horizontally. Red Space (Equal 6): Place 3-6 and 6-6 horizontally; place 6-0 vertically. Light Blue Space (Equal 4): Place 4-3 horizontally; place 4-1 vertically. Space (Less Than 2): Place the 6-0 tile vertically. Dark Blue Space (Equal 2): Place the 2-2 tile vertically. Space (Less Than 4): Place the 5-2 tile vertically. Space (Less Than 2): Place the 4-1 tile vertically. Space (Sum 5): Place the 5-3 tile horizontally. Space (Greater Than 2): Place the 5-3 tile horizontally.

Hard Difficulty

Space (Sum 10): Place 5-4 and 3-5 tiles horizontally. Red Space (Equal 4): Place 5-4, 4-0, and 1-4 tiles horizontally. Space (Sum 0): Place the 4-0 tile horizontally. Space (Sum 3): Place the 3-2 tile vertically. Space (Sum 6): Place 3-4 vertically; place 3-5 horizontally. Space (Less Than 3): Place the 3-2 tile vertically. Space (Sum 8): Place 3-4 and 4-6 tiles vertically. Space (Sum 2): Place the 2-1 tile horizontally. Light Blue Space (Equal 1): Place 1-4, 2-1, and 5-1 tiles horizontally. Space (Not Equal): Place 0-3 and 4-4 vertically; place 5-5 horizontally. Space (Sum 4): Place the 4-4 tile vertically. Space (Greater Than 10): Place 4-6 vertically; place 5-1 horizontally. Space (Sum 5): Place the 5-5 tile horizontally.