Pips Answer for Thursday, December 25, 2025
Complete NYT Pips puzzle solution with interactive board and expert analysis.
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Nyt Pips easy answer for 2025-12-25
Answer for 2025-12-25
Solving the Christmas Day Pips puzzles was a great way to spend my morning. I always start with the Easy grid to get my brain in gear. I immediately looked for the largest sum which was 12 at the coordinates (2,0) and (3,0). Since the only way to get 12 with standard dominoes is a double-six, I placed that down first. That helped me figure out the bottom of the grid where (5,0) had to be greater than 1 and (5,1) had to be less than 1. I used the 5-0 domino there, putting the 5 at (5,0) and the 0 at (4,0) to satisfy the empty cell requirement. The rest of the Easy grid fell into place once I used the 4-2 domino to hit that sum target of 2 at (0,0).
Moving on to the
Nyt Pips medium answer for 2025-12-25
Answer for 2025-12-25
Medium puzzle, I looked for the Equals constraints because they are huge time-savers. I saw that (4,0) and (4,1) had to be identical, which meant that the domino covering them had to be a double. I checked my list and saw 1-1 and 6-6. At the same time, I saw a sum of 10 at (0,4) and (0,5). I played around with the 0-5 and 1-1 dominoes and realized that the 0-5 had to be split across the right edge to satisfy that sum of 10 combined with a pip from the 6-6 domino. The trickiest part was the 'less than 3' area at the top left, but once I had the 1-1 domino locked in, the 0-1 and 0-2 pieces filled the remaining gaps.
Finally, I hit the
Nyt Pips hard answer for 2025-12-25
Answer for 2025-12-25
Hard puzzle. This one was a monster with 15 dominoes. I started with the most restrictive spots: the sum of 0 at (5,3) and (5,4) and the sum of 15 at (3,5), (4,5), and (4,6). For the sum of 0, both cells had to be zeros, which meant I needed to position my 1-0 and 0-3 dominoes so their zero ends touched those spots.
For the sum of 15, I knew I needed high numbers like 6, 5, and 4. I eventually worked out that the 6-6 and 1-5 dominoes were the keys there. The big 'Equals' block in the center-left was the final anchor. I counted how many 3s and 4s were available in my remaining dominoes and realized the only way to satisfy that four-cell block was to use 3s. Once those central 3s were placed, the rest of the board was just a matter of connecting the dots.
What I Learned
I learned that when you have a sum of zero across multiple cells, it's a massive gift because every single cell in that region must be a zero, which drastically limits your domino choices.
I also noticed a pattern in the Hard grid where the Equals regions were strategically placed to force you to use up specific values like 3s and 4s early on. Another interesting thing I found is that high sums (like 15 in a 3-cell region) almost always require a 6-6 or 6-5 domino to be involved, so I always check those first to see where they can fit.