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NYT Pips answers — Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Pips #122 · Edited by Ian Livengood · Easy by Ian Livengood · Medium by Rodolfo Kurchan · Hard by Rodolfo Kurchan

Stuck on today's New York Times Pips? Below are three progressive hints for each difficulty, then the full solution as a tap-to-reveal board. Hints first — the answer only when you want it.

Jump to: Easy · Medium · Hard

Easy Pips answer — December 17, 2025

4×3 board · 5 dominoes · 8 regions · by Ian Livengood

5 dominoes, 8 regions, a 4×3 grid — that's the easy puzzle for December 17, 2025. Rules on the board: 3 sum regions, 1 "all equal", 1 "less than", 3 free regions. Best foothold — the single cell at row 4, column 1 is marked 6, so it can only hold a 6. After that, the single cell at row 4, column 3 is marked 6, so it can only hold a 6. Rack check: 2 doubles, 2 blank halves, 4 sixes.

Hints

Hint 1 — where to start

The single cell at row 4, column 1 is marked 6, so it can only hold a 6. Find the domino with a 6 that fits there.

Hint 2 — first domino

Place the 6–6 domino with its 6 at row 3, column 1 and its 6 at row 4, column 1.

Hint 3 — second domino

Next, the 1–6 goes at row 3, column 3 → row 4, column 3. From there the rest should fall into place.

Solution

Tap any cell to reveal its pips, or reveal the whole board. Region rules: = must all be the same number; <4 must add up to less than 4; 5 must add up to 5; 6 must add up to 6.

=
<4
5
6
6
Solution as text
  1. 1–6 — 1 at row 3, column 3, 6 at row 4, column 3
  2. 6–5 — 6 at row 1, column 2, 5 at row 1, column 3
  3. 1–4 — 1 at row 2, column 2, 4 at row 2, column 3
  4. 6–6 — 6 at row 3, column 1, 6 at row 4, column 1
  5. 0–0 — 0 at row 1, column 1, 0 at row 2, column 1

Medium Pips answer — December 17, 2025

4×5 board · 7 dominoes · 7 regions · by Rodolfo Kurchan

7 dominoes, 7 regions, a 4×5 grid — that's the medium puzzle for December 17, 2025. Rules on the board: 3 sum regions, 2 "all equal", 2 free regions. Best foothold — the two-cell region at row 1, column 1 adds to 12: both cells must be 6. After that, the "=" region starting at row 3, column 2 has 3 cells that must all match — every 0 in the puzzle should come here.. Rack check: 1 double, 3 blank halves, 4 sixes.

Hints

Hint 1 — where to start

The two-cell region at row 1, column 1 adds to 12: both cells must be 6. That's the 6–6 domino, or two 6s from different dominoes.

Hint 2 — first domino

Place the 6–6 domino with its 6 at row 1, column 1 and its 6 at row 1, column 2.

Hint 3 — second domino

Next, the 2–0 goes at row 2, column 2 → row 3, column 2. From there the rest should fall into place.

Solution

Tap any cell to reveal its pips, or reveal the whole board. Region rules: 12 must add up to 12; 6 must add up to 6; = must all be the same number; 10 must add up to 10.

12
6
=
=
10
Solution as text
  1. 2–3 — 2 at row 2, column 1, 3 at row 3, column 1
  2. 6–6 — 6 at row 1, column 1, 6 at row 1, column 2
  3. 2–0 — 2 at row 2, column 2, 0 at row 3, column 2
  4. 6–2 — 6 at row 2, column 4, 2 at row 2, column 3
  5. 4–5 — 4 at row 3, column 5, 5 at row 4, column 5
  6. 0–6 — 0 at row 3, column 3, 6 at row 3, column 4
  7. 5–0 — 5 at row 4, column 4, 0 at row 4, column 3

Hard Pips answer — December 17, 2025

6×5 board · 12 dominoes · 12 regions · by Rodolfo Kurchan

The hard board runs 6 rows by 5 columns: 12 dominoes to place across 12 regions. The mix is 4 sum regions, 3 "all equal", 1 "less than", 3 free regions. The single cell at row 3, column 1 is marked 4, so it can only hold a 4. After that, the single cell at row 5, column 1 is marked 5, so it can only hold a 5. Rack check: 3 doubles, 3 blank halves, 2 sixes.

Hints

Hint 1 — where to start

The single cell at row 3, column 1 is marked 4, so it can only hold a 4. Find the domino with a 4 that fits there.

Hint 2 — first domino

Place the 4–2 domino with its 4 at row 3, column 1 and its 2 at row 4, column 1.

Hint 3 — second domino

Next, the 5–2 goes at row 5, column 1 → row 6, column 1. From there the rest should fall into place.

Solution

Tap any cell to reveal its pips, or reveal the whole board. Region rules: = must all be the same number; 10 must add up to 10; 0 must add up to 0; 4 must add up to 4; ≠ must all be different.

=
10
0
=
4
≠
5
<4
=
Solution as text
  1. 2–3 — 2 at row 6, column 2, 3 at row 5, column 2
  2. 2–6 — 2 at row 6, column 5, 6 at row 5, column 5
  3. 1–5 — 1 at row 2, column 3, 5 at row 2, column 4
  4. 3–0 — 3 at row 1, column 1, 0 at row 2, column 1
  5. 1–1 — 1 at row 3, column 2, 1 at row 4, column 2
  6. 5–3 — 5 at row 1, column 4, 3 at row 1, column 3
  7. 1–3 — 1 at row 2, column 2, 3 at row 1, column 2
  8. 5–2 — 5 at row 5, column 1, 2 at row 6, column 1
  9. 0–0 — 0 at row 1, column 5, 0 at row 2, column 5
  10. 2–2 — 2 at row 6, column 3, 2 at row 6, column 4
  11. 6–5 — 6 at row 4, column 4, 5 at row 4, column 5
  12. 4–2 — 4 at row 3, column 1, 2 at row 4, column 1

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