Need help with the NYT Pips Hard board for September 23, 2025? Its central dark-blue region requires equal 3s, making it the key constraint. Below is a hint followed by the complete placement sequence; stop before the solution if you want to keep solving.
Hint for the September 23, 2025 Hard board
Begin with the dark-blue equal-3 region. Its cells must contain 3-valued domino halves, so use that requirement to determine which tiles can fill it. Then place the remaining halves in their neighboring regions or in the unconstrained square.
What the region rules mean
Each domino has two numbered halves and can be placed horizontally or vertically. A colored region applies its condition only to the half or halves inside that region. A domino crossing a border can therefore have one half subject to one rule and its other half subject to a different rule—or to no regional rule if it lands in an uncolored square.
For this board, the conditions used in the walkthrough include Orange greater than 2, Blue equal to 2, Purple less than 2, Green equal to 2, Dark Blue equal values, Pink equal to 2, and Purple equal to 2.
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Hard solution, step by step
Spoilers below. Keep each domino oriented as described: the first value listed goes into the first named region, and the second value goes into the next named region or square.
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Place 4/0 across Orange and Blue: put 4 in Orange (>2) and 0 in Blue (2).
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Place 2/3 from Blue (2) into Dark Blue (=).
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Place 0/1 from Purple (<2) into Green (2).
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Place 1/3 from Green (2) into Dark Blue (=).
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Place 3/0 from Dark Blue (=) into Pink (2).
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Fill the remaining Dark Blue (=) cells with 3/3.
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Place 2/1 from Pink (2) upward into Purple (2).
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Place the final 1/6 domino upward from Purple (2) into the only remaining free square.
Why the sequence works
The equal-3 region narrows the placement choices: its cells must be filled by halves valued 3. Once those halves are accounted for, the boundary-crossing dominoes let their other halves meet neighboring region conditions. The last domino fills the one square left open after the constrained regions are complete.
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