Vikram Madan, North Star

Artifact, 480 pieces.  OK, this hasn't happened before--I got this new, but it had 2 pieces missing!  I'm pretty good with piece control and while it's not completely impossible that something might have happened on my end, I was sure enough that this wasn't the case to return the puzzle.  That disappointment makes it hard to judge the puzzle on its merits, though up until the end it was a moderately difficult Artifact, with internal curves mimicking the curves of the aliens in the picture and an interesting plastic star that fit into the puzzle.  I still liked it but I don't feel I can rate it fairly.

Universe Planets Space

Hartmaze, 177 pieces. Conventionally shaped this time; the easiest of the Hartmaze puzzles I did, still with random internal piece shapes.  Wish there were more! 3/5

Color Owl

Hartmaze, 209 pieces.  I wish Hartmaze made more puzzles!  They're so comparatively cheap and yet well-done.  But they seem to have produced a few puzzles then disappeared.  3/5

Catamaran

Hélène Meder-Thauvin, 353 pieces.  Marquetry makes for an interesting puzzle--the pieces are very thick and even what looks partially interlocking holds together pretty well when you lift it. This one took a while because only shape was the guide for a big chunk of the puzzle! 3/5

Miss Masque: Exciting Comics

Nook, 263 pieces.  Unusual subject matter and comic-themed whimsies make this one fun--I really liked the cut-out "Boom" etc. comic "sound effects."  3/5

Boom bam pow

Decorative Elephant

Hartmaze, 171 pieces.  It's not often I find a new laser cutter--Chinese, no less.  The pieces have no particular theme or style, but they're not strip cut and the shape is irregular while the colors vary a lot, making for a puzzle that is a reasonable challenge despite the small size.  The price can't be beat, so find it on Amazon if you're in need of a small puzzle.  3/5

Polar Kiss

Thomas D. Mangelsen's Images of Nature, 350 pieces.  Thin, hand-cut pieces.  Made extra difficult by the nearly all-white image!  3/5

Orchidaceae, Ernst Haeckel

Nook, 268 pieces. This popular puzzle image is paired with multipiece orchid whimsies.  After a few different Nooks, I think I might have liked the design of the first one best, with its large internal image/outline.  The repeating whimsies are fine, but ultimately less of my thing.  3/5

The Grand Canal, Maurice Prendergast

Liberty, 498 pieces.  What is there to say about a conventionally good Liberty?  This has a nice mix of colors and somewhat generic-seeming whimsies, or at least I didn't understand the theme. It was enjoyable in the way that one wants a Liberty to be enjoyable.  3/5

Floral Dream

Lumengrave, 225 pieces. Another new-to-me cutter: laser cut, directly on wood with pictures engraved into the surface. The result is an unusual puzzle, conventionally strip cut but made more difficult by the limited color palette and repeating design (they also make somewhat less difficult puzzles with conventional images engraved into the wood).  I found it surprisingly challenging for its size, and it's affordable for a puzzler looking for something a bit different. 3/5

Spring Flowers

Nook, 318 pieces.  Floral-themed, obviously, with some nice pools of color to guide assembly.  3/5

The Scream, Edvard Munch

Liberty, 479 pieces.  I've been trying to pare down my Liberty collection--they're great, but I'm out of space--but I'm making an exception; this was just plain fun. Also, the flames and bubbles in the unusually shaped pieces made this different from the usual Liberty cut.  And the little screaming guy along the bottom was just fun.  5/5

Closeup on the flame section

Closeup on the screaming figure

closeup on the bubble section

Stink Bug Bench

Nook, 330 pieces.  With the partial exception of the Farm Truck puzzle, the Nook puzzles I've done have as their main distinctive feature repeating whimsies that echo the puzzle's visuals: here it's bugs. Very bright colors. 3/5