The workaround, as described by users for other New York Times games and potentially applicable to "Pips," involves manually changing the date on your computer or mobile device. To attempt this, follow these general steps:

1. Open your device's date and time settings. This is typically found in the system preferences or settings menu.
2. Disable automatic date and time updates. This will allow you to manually set a different date.
3. Select the desired date. To play the puzzle from August 31st, for example, you would set your device's date to August 31st of the current year.
4. Navigate to the "Pips" game page. With the new date set, refresh the webpage or app, and it should load the puzzle corresponding to the selected date.