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.

Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Cat

 Mankeke, 105 pieces. Usually I wouldn't have gone for such a small puzzle from an Amazon seller, even at a relatively low price, but it was a cat made of cats. How could I resist? And it was fun for what it was. 3/5





Erin Hanson, Hues of Zion

 Artifact/Ecru, 219 pieces. Hanson paints lovely images, and the puzzle shows them off well. 3/5





Morning Dove

 East Texas Piney Woods Puzzles, 325 pieces. Thick hand-cut pieces, on the small but not tiny side, from this Etsy seller, with cutting that is consistent enough to provide a challenge given the image but not frustrating. No whimsies.  4/5 a nice handcutter





Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Eric Joyner, Great Robot Migration

 Artifact, 480 pieces. A nice puzzle with whimsies including famous robots, and an image that gets smaller and smaller as a guide to assembly, with pleasing effects. 4/5



Robbie the robot

More than meets the eye?



Rainbow Tiger

 Woodbests, 300 pieces. Amazon seller. Reasonably priced and no problems with cut. You'll like it if it's the kind of thing you like. 3/5





Sunday on La Grande Jatte

 Mosaic, 500 pieces. Always nice to see a classic. Love-themed whimsies. 3/5





cats in love



Monday, March 29, 2021

Sprinkler Time, Betsy Brown

 Stave, 85 pieces. Another charming Stave, with only some difficulty (two swords). 6/10





Great Bengal

 Jigsawow, 170 pieces. I'm a sucker for big cats. And here's a multi-part whimsy (the Taj Mahal, below). 3/5



multi-piece owl

multi-piece monkey (not sure tail really needed to be separate)



Kevin Sloan, Naughty Bird

 Artifact, 270 pieces. This one has a lot of pictures because of the large number of charming interacting whimsies despite relatively lower piece count. The dark background provides most of the difficulty. 3/5



bird and books

bad Polly?

bird chase

four different creatures

bird and cage

dog tugging on leash

bird ball player

grateful for the cage?

why is a raven like a writing desk?

someone is about to be very unhappy

hat thief




Friday, March 26, 2021

Light My Fire

 Stave, 75 pieces, Dee Rogers. A fun two-sword Teaser with difficulty generated by the highly similar, but perfectly distinguishable by feel, pieces. 6/10




Jewel Butterfly

 Wood Trick, 170 pieces. My favorite from this Amazon seller so far. Lots of butterfly whimsies. 3/5