Using Constraint Solvers to Solve the New York Times Pips Puzzle
By
chmaynard
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Summary
This article explores solving the New York Times' new Pips puzzle using constraint solvers. The Pips puzzle involves placing dominoes on a grid while satisfying various conditions, such as sum constraints on colored squares and pip count limitations. The author discusses how constraint solvers can be applied to solve these puzzles, particularly the more challenging medium and hard versions, and provides analysis of the puzzle mechanics and solving strategies.
Key quotes
· 5 pulledThe New York Times recently introduced a new daily puzzle called Pips.
You place a set of dominoes on a grid, satisfying various conditions.
The pips (dots) in the purple squares must sum to 8, there must be fewer than 5 pips in the red square, and the pips in the three green squares must be equal.
It doesn't take much thought to solve this 'easy' puzzle, but the 'medium' and 'hard' puzzles are more challenging.
I was wondering about how to solve the New York Times Pips puzzle with a constraint solver.
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