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.

Friday, March 30, 2018

Hostas, Ed Collacott

Wentworth, 243 pieces.  A tricky leaf-shaped cut--a pleasant extra difficult Wentworth that I got so caught up in doing that I only have an end picture.  3/5

Untitled landscape

Unknown, 370 pieces (as marked on back of puzzle). This antique is cut much like another one I had from the same eBay seller a few months back, except that it has a bunch of very elaborate whimsies. The age and elaboration meant that there were some broken pieces, almost all of which could be glued back to at least an adjacent piece if not their original, but the real attraction here is the whimsies, which are older cartoon characters. I recognized Popeye and a few others, but certainly far from all!  Identifications welcome.


Popeye and his(?) dog




Why upside down, Google?

Monday, March 26, 2018

Spectacular Peacock, Aimee Stewart

240 pieces, Wentworth. Beautifully colored, which is why I got such a small Wentworth (also, peacocks).  3/5



Tropical scene (untitled)

Charles D. Cobb, 300 pieces.  Hand cut in an unusual slanting style that holds together well despite having fewer connectors than a fully interlocking puzzle.  5/5 Happy to find an interesting new-to-me cutter



Friday, March 23, 2018

Egg-stremely Difficult

287 pieces, Wentworth.  Beautiful coloring, but frankly not as much fun as I had hoped--sometimes the Wentworth extremely difficult cuts really work for me, sometimes they don't, and this was a don't.  Super difficult, though, perhaps the most difficult Wentworth I've ever done, so there's that. 2/5



The Concert, Johannes Vermeer

437 pieces, Liberty.  A nice Liberty with painting and music-themed whimsies. Each of the main figures is framed in her own mini "frame."  3/5





Tuesday, March 13, 2018

IZH-Puzzle/Alexey Morozov

Catstle, Alexey Dolotov, 340 pieces.  The cutter is on Etsy; my order took a while to make but was well worth it for the cute cat/mouse whimsies, multi-piece whimsies and mouse-head-shaped connectors, reminiscent of Artifact but hand-cut.  Not quite Stave's best, but given the price differential still quite a bargain. 7/10 Stave scale.

I flipped these over so the carved details were easier to see; two of the mice are color-line cut

Many, many whimsies including the multi-piece knitting owl, which I especially appreciate given my new hobby



Turtle Tracks by Aleen Kienholz

Wells Fargo Memories, by Charles Wysocki, 130 pieces.  It's been a while, so here are some new-to-me puzzle cutters!  This was a small but well-cut puzzle, with thin but solid wood.  Western-themed whimsies and a bit of color line cutting rounded it out.  4/5; would rate higher if it was bigger.