About my ratings

Perhaps because of my day job, I'm a tough rater. Everything 3/5 and above I consider worth the time and money. If I purchase on Etsy or a similar platform and the puzzle is as expected, I will give a top rating on the platform because of how seller ratings work, but here "as expected" is probably a 3/5 in most cases.

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Abstract VI, Alex Beard

Liberty, 534 pieces. This one is unusual in that the human whimsies are almost all in two pieces, top and bottom.  The repeating colors/patterns also made this a difficult puzzle.  4/5


closeup on the figure halves



Going After 'Em

Unknown cutter, 486 pieces.  Really unusual and pretty cutting style, with nice colors and a good level of difficulty. One of the reminders of how good hand-cutting can be.  5/5





Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Princess Hyacinth, Alfonse Mucha

Liberty, 475 pieces. It's interesting to see a puzzlemaker evolve, but early work from a known quantity can also be illuminating. This is an earlier Liberty, and it shows in a lot of ways: the eagle hasn't achieved its now-standard form.  The whimsies have lots of small-toothed edges in a way that might have seemed like a way of demonstrating the potentials of laser cutting, but that I don't enjoy as much as the present style.  There are a few abstract shapes that I haven't seen again.  In general, this seems to have been designed so that the pieces would look as much like hand-cut as possible, while I would say that current Liberty puzzles have instead embraced the special affordances of laser cutting, to their benefit.  3/5

Some representative whimsies--the geometric shapes look more like they're imitating hand-cut



back view

Stem Cell, Bruce Riley

Artifact, 191 pieces.  Lots of dropouts make this puzzle harder than it looks, despite the apparently distinctive cellular whimsies.  3/5



Monday, November 27, 2017

Hills of San Francisco, Linnea Pergola

577 pieces, Liberty.  A nice Liberty--a lot going on visually and some good interacting whimsies.  After these photos were taken, I rolled over a piece in my chair and messed it up some; trying to secure a replacement.  4/5

This Grateful Dead bear is the best whimsy I have seen in a while



Hot air balloon


Autumn Forest

350 pieces, Snowflake. Now this is more like it!  Beautiful colors with enough gradual change to make it a fun challenge, as well as distinctions between the image and the reflection that reveal themselves on close inspection.  4/5



Friday, November 24, 2017

Empty Beer Bottles

350, Snowflake Puzzles. Another nice hand-cut puzzle; I misjudged the balance between difficulty and visual interest on the picture, though--this was plenty hard but didn't have enough color to be really fun for me.  3/5

Then I forgot to take a picture of the results...

Czar Saltan's Tale

128 pieces, Puzzlemonk.  A tricky one, with some uncertainty about where the edges are and a repeating pattern like Ms. Pac-Man dots.  4/5




Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Autumn Golden Fleece

Galles Jig-Saw Picture Puzzle, 350 pieces.  Vintage puzzle, cutter new to me. Very tight in the way of vintage puzzles; one piece had a missing arm.  Good colors and some tricky places, including corners that weren't obviously corners.  3/5




Welcome in Venice

431 pieces, Mr. Gogo Puzzles.  It's a pleasure to see a puzzle cutter evolve over time--this maker has been increasingly willing to add flourishes, such as the highly involved borders here, which even include similar shapes in the body of the puzzle--not quite whimsies, but not conventionally shaped either.  5/5 or maybe graduating to the Stave scale.


Why upside down, Google?

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

A Secret Place

501 pieces, Liberty.  Good standard Liberty with large chunks of similar color, especially at the bottom.  3/5



Egon Schiele, View of Krumau

Liberty, 508 pieces.  A nicely tricky Liberty, with some apparently muddy but then ultimately distinguishable colors as the puzzle progressed.  Um, I started to take it apart then realized I hadn't taken a finished picture, so that last picture is a bit odd.  Also, I assembled it upside down. 4/5



Monday, November 20, 2017

Chesapeake Bay

308 pieces, Optimago.  A smaller puzzle made harder by the limited color range. It's nice to see a US-specific Optimago.  3/5


Karla Gerard, Lively Landscape

221 pieces, Artifact.  A new Artifact, and a bunch harder than it seemed at the start.  Vines/fences separating the animal/people whimsies from each other worked really well--see the picture at the bottom.  4/5




Easier to see the pattern upside down