Cactus and Cactus Wren

Waterford (used to be Elm), 615 pieces. The Elm puzzle club has relaunched as Waterford with all new puzzles. The cutting style is still the same as Elm--traditional, with whimsies.  A good solid hand-cut puzzle, very nicely colored.  6/10

interacting multipiece whimsy: man resting by cactus

Angie Rees, When Whales Set Sail

Artifact, 278 pieces. Apparently I screwed up the full on picture so you only get chunks! Still, a very clever Artifact, with connectors deployed differently throughout the puzzle, so that the palace in the clouds is connected differently then the large half-whale (oneiric whale?) at the other side of the puzzle. 4/5

half a whale (not in the gross way)

castle in the air

whale leaving the picture

whale, dolphin, and penguins in/falling out of a basket

Spring Kaleidoscope

Corgi Puzzles, 298 pieces. The cutting here is a little cruder than in the best hand-cut puzzles, but the whimsies are cute and the wood is nicely thick. Matte, brightly colored image; I like kaleidoscope puzzles but I'm not so sure what the birds were doing. 3/5

The Prodigal Returns, Liz Lovin

NOVILStudio, 120 pieces. Thick pieces for a hand-cut puzzle, a little thicker even than Stave etc. Strip-cut in style, but not exactly, so that a piece's width and its neighbor's were not necessarily the same for a little extra difficulty.  I liked the trompe l'oeil quality of the leaf in the picture.  3/5

In Northern Climes

Unknown, 660 pieces. Unusual angular cutting style; some chipping on the edges/weakness in some of the narrower parts of pieces, but decent condition for an antique.  Very tight fit. Worth it for the distinctive cutting style, despite usual color fading. 3/5

Chardonneret

Penelope, 300 pieces (2 missing). There's something so sad about a puzzle that you think is complete not being complete. I bought this because the seller said all the pieces were there ... but it's never quite sure unless there's a picture of the completed puzzle. The seller was good about it but I should probably have known better. I just like Penelope puzzles and took a chance.  2/5 (but that's the sadness of incompleteness)

Cat City

DaVici, 700 pieces.  I went away and my daughter finished it!  That makes me sad and proud, too. The colors are great and the cat theme is perfect, with a number of multipiece cat whimsies as well as individual cats, and trees with cutouts for additional whimsies.  4/5

Cat in motion, about to knock the flower pot off the ledge

We are the Lotus Kids, Monique Munoz

Stumpcraft, 888 pieces. A big one! Stumpcraft experimenting with irregular edges, which I admit kept me guessing until the very end.  A lot of yoga/yoga-esque whimsies and color line or near color-line cutting that also increased the degree of difficulty. Very tight cutting.  4/5

off on the left side you can see a couple of the tiny yoga posing people as well as a stork with a bundle and some frogs

detail of irregular edge

River Particles, Karen Williams-Brusbardis

Liberty, 509 pieces. A central multipiece atom in the sky radiates lines outwards, interrupted only by animal whimsies. Also a number of multipiece animals like moose.  I like how Liberty's ambitions seem to grow in terms of doing interesting things with whimsies. Very nice colors.  4/5

Steamboat Springs Colorado, Jan Magness

Whimsy Wood Puzzles, 438 pieces. Multi-piece animals in this one--I really liked the wolves, including the one padding along the edge of the puzzle. 3/5

eagle

bear

wolf

deer

another wolf

Vintage New York City Travel Poster

Peaceful, 582 pieces.  I have to say, these Peaceful puzzles are impressing me more than my older ones. (It's also possible what I like has changed over time.)  The pieces are nice and thick. The biggest complaint I have is that there are some unduly tiny pieces created by some of the intersections. But this one had a nice image and was fun to do.  3/5

Roy Hennessey, Curled up Fox

Hardwood Art Creations, 276 pieces. Thin laser-cut puzzle with animal whimsies. Although it's laser-cut, reminds me of Maridale for thinness and general feel, including the image (wildlife photography).  3/5

Julie DeBoer, Badlands to the Bone

Stumpcraft, 540 pieces. Very nice themed whimsies here, including paleontologists, their tools, and a bunch of dinosaurs/dinosaur bones. The image has good coloring and enough variation to make it possible to do the puzzle without pain.  4/5