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 17, 2021

Woodland Scene, Jeanne Maze

 Liberty, 541 pieces. Relatively challenging because most of the picture is trees. Lots of overlap between image and animal whimsy, though the placement is easiest to see on the dragonfly (it also exists on the bear and deer as well as elsewhere, but is much harder to see from the front). Birds alighting on the geometric-ish standard leaf and branch whimsies: also cool. 3/5












Jadwiga Chekhovskaya Pup 

 DaVici, 160 pieces. Cute, small. 3/5






Iris Scott, Tiger Fire

 Artifact, 306 pieces. Difficulty here comes from the relatively dark image; there's also a beautiful multipiece tiger in tiger in the center. 3/5






two cubs playing


Monday, August 16, 2021

Sergey Adeev, Good Morning

 DaVici, 170 pieces. A nice little DaVici with some charming outdoor/rural whimsies, like the scarecrow that's repeated on the front of the box.











Rachel Pedder-Smith, Abandoned Garden

 Artifact, 296 pieces. I really like the way these geometric pieces break up the image, creating a difficult challenge. 4/5




Blessing of the Tuna Fleet at Groix, Paul Signac

 Liberty, 533 pieces. The image is complex with a fair amount of difficulty because the colors are scattered throughout (with some clear areas of sky and water), but the real standout is the enormous tuna that can be made from pieces taken from different parts of the puzzle. Note that the bones are from the sky and the flesh from the water! 4/5




large multipiece ship with fish swimming by and smaller ships in the sails

fishing; may have caught more than he can reel in

finding the last piece for this was surprisingly difficult



Thursday, August 12, 2021

Weekend Relaxation

 Stave, 265 pieces. This is an early 80s Stave with some distinctions from current practices. First, the cutting is not quite where it will be--there are some pieces so fragile that they broke (one of the palm trees, two of the cursive names). Second, "in the world of mules there are no rules--Ogden Nash" is written across the back, though I suppose that could have been added later. Third, there is a "logograph"--a word made of letters scattered through the puzzle that is supposed to spell a word related to the puzzle, though I was defeated by it (and I tried Scrabble aids!). Suggestions welcome. It's still a Stave and gets the Stave scale, but it is not today's Stave. 5/10





enlarged silhouette

The left indicates the number of words in the logograph, the right the number of letters

interacting hammock whimsy

rebus: bear + foot + in + d + P + ark = barefoot in the park, though that doesn't look much like a bear to me; it's my best guess

I have no idea! Since the ES were together in the puzzle, the instructions say, they're in that order in the word


Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Angie Rees, The Skating Party

 Artifact, 502 pieces. Nice soft colors; multipiece whimsies including bears. Notably, the multipiece whimsies have different connector types--compare the bears (jagged), the igloo (angular), and the ice rink (half a snowflake?). 4/5









snowman decapitation