The end of the month is always a busy time, but that hasn't stopped the puzzle masters from dropping another challenging round of Pips on us this Wednesday morning. Whether you’re a casual player or a daily fanatic, the May 27 edition offers a grid-based struggle that tests your patience and your spatial reasoning skills. You have a finite number of dominoes to spend. Failing to meet the color-coded requirements means you’re right back at the start.
Pips is about managing specific constraints. You’ve got purple squares that can't match, pink ones that must sum to zero, and blue rows that require total equality. If you see a less-than or greater-than symbol, you have to ensure the total value of those tiles sits on the right side of the math. Sometimes you get lucky with a blank space, but mostly, you’re just fighting the grid for the perfect fit.
For those tackling the Hard tier, it's mostly a game of trial-and-error, though having a strategy makes the process less painful. The board today consists of a single-tile grid layout that demands a specific sequence of rotations. You have two doubles to manage. Placing those in the corners serves as a foundation that helps stabilize the board and anchor your subsequent placements.
Start your run by putting the 4/4 domino in the top left, spanning from the Purple 4 to the Pink 4. The 3/4 domino follows right next to it, stretching from Blue 3 over to Orange 4, while the 3/3 domino sits firmly in the top right corner between Dark Blue 3 and Green 3. Once those anchors are set, place the 3/1 domino directly beneath the corner to link Purple 3 into Pink 1. Drop the 6/4 domino so it runs from Green 6 down into Purple 4.
In the middle of the board, the 2/4 piece connects Dark Blue 2 down to Green 4. On the left side, put the 2/1 domino from Blue 2 up into Pink 1, then lay the 5/0 piece horizontally so it bridges Blue 5 and Orange 0. Right under that, slot the 2/3 domino from Orange 2 to Dark Blue 3. Finally, finish the bottom row by placing the 1/0 domino from Orange 1 across to Dark Blue 0.
To wrap up the board, put the 4/1 domino above that bottom row from Purple 4 to Green 1 and the 2/0 piece from Dark Blue 2 down to Blue 0. The 5/4 domino occupies the space from Orange 5 into the first free tile, while the 6/2 domino fills the gap from the Pink 6 in the lower right corner. Close it all out with the 3/5 domino, connecting Green 3 into the final empty slot.
This was a fun challenge (as was today’s Medium Pips) though not nearly as hard as some of these grid-style Hard Pips can be!
This specific puzzle style isn't just about moving tiles; it's about the logic required to rotate them so they hit the target numbers across different colors. You’ll find that as you move through the tiers, the rules become more rigid, requiring you to think ahead. If you’ve been struggling with the math behind the colors, focus on your anchors first and the rest of the board often reveals itself.
For those who haven't finished their May projects, consider this your victory lap before June kicks off. Solving the Hard tier usually offers a sense of relief, especially on a Wednesday when the work week is still in full swing. If you're looking for more ways to kill time or sharpen your brain, you can check out plenty of guides for different daily brain teasers.