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.

Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Haystack & Pumpkins

Maurice Jacobs, 224 pieces. This is one of several hand-cut puzzles I recently acquired. The picture was possibly a bit faded by time; the cut was not particularly distinctive (a little round/swirly), but it was fine! 3/5


Hog Heaven

Stave, 65 pieces. Two-sword teaser; pigs in a sundae. 6/10



Friday, July 31, 2020

Red Sailboat Sunset, Karen Tarlton

BCB Puzzles, 400 pieces. Really like the interaction between this artist's thick strokes of color and the cutting style. 4/5



Flowers, Trees & Shrubs, Adolphe Phillipe Millot

Nautilus, 464 pieces. Probably the most difficult Nautilus I've done because of the consistent white background/widespread greenery. Still, progress was possible by focusing first on the rarer colors and then finer distinctions. Lots of floral whimsies, unsurprisingly. 3/5

lots of whimsies!


Thursday, July 30, 2020

Elephant

Wongo, 330 pieces. A new to me cutter, on Etsy, with very competitive pricing ($35 when last seen). Similar to Hartmaze, except instead of random piece shape it's a bit more rounded and has whimsies, including multi-piece whimsies. If you like Hartmaze, Wongo is definitely worth a look. 3/5







Onion Dreams

Elm, 787 pieces. This one was very difficult because of the large areas of dark color. Although there were very subtle variations, they were hard to pick up on until the right pieces were near each other; there is a lot of detail in the puzzle but it is hard to get piece by piece. There were also internal "edges" surrounding some of the interacting/multipiece whimsies, which further added to the difficulty. 7/10


Humpty Dumpty and rowing man



Rowing man in context--edges visible above; bird whimsy has fallen out when flipped over

dish running away with spoon

goldfish escape

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Hinds House Window, Tiffany Stained Glass

BCB Puzzles, 400 pieces. Long and narrow with beautiful deep colors that vary slightly across the puzzle, making for a challenging and fun assembly. 5/5