Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Canoe of Fate, Roy de Forest

 Liberty, 519 pieces. Whimsies very heavy on fanciful animals--for some reason Blogger pasted these pictures in seemingly backwards order, but I persevere. Nice colors, busy picture. 3/5

winged unicorn

boat (note faceless monster at bottom right)

fire, firestarter, another monster

centaur

griffin and chunk of multiarmed monster

various wolfkind





Tuesday, August 30, 2022

The Fisherman, or, Exotic Landscape, Tarsila Amiral

 Liberty, 519 pieces. Very pleasant Liberty with sizeable areas of similar color. I hadn't seen the lemonade pitcher whimsies before! Many multipiece whimsies including some nice trees. 3/5




some of the trees

more trees, including one being climbed

lemonade!

artist with paints surrounding

fish requiring two to hold it

otter evading capture?

anteater and sea creatures


Friday, August 26, 2022

Sakura Blossom Festival

 FoxSmartBox, 437 pieces. Finally, one I like enough to add to my permanent collection! Themed whimsies, including multipiece whimsies, and a nice mix of colors here. I like the thicker wood as well. 3/5












Thursday, August 25, 2022

Central Park, Winter

 Liberty, 535 pieces. The standout here is the elaborate top border, which is as tricky as some Staves and has to be figured out with some trial and error; the colors don't even match to the connectors to the main puzzle. I enjoyed it despite struggling for a while. 3/5




Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Alkonost of the Woods

 Zumahs, 420 pieces. The spiky piece style is not my favorite, and large chunks of the puzzle are quite dark, but the design is interesting with lots of winged human figures and birds and a very elaborate edge that kept me uncertain to the end. 3/5



closeup on the winged (dragon?) topper


Urban Treehouse, Amy Shackleton

 Stumpcraft, 464 pieces. Just lovely colors here, and they mix slowly enough that the puzzle is nicely challenging--green leaves go away bit by bit, forcing you to hunt for smaller and smaller patches. Stumpcraft also continues a practice I like a lot--pieces that look like they should be part of larger whimsies but aren't. I saw half a maple leaf in there even! 3/5




closeup on one half with houses, though it looks like the Upside Down (thanks, Blogger)

the other half with its sphere


Skating in Holland, Andreas Schelfhaut

 Liberty, 493 pieces. Beautiful pink sky makes up a big percentage of this puzzle but it assembles steadily, in part because of the three mega-multipiece snowflakes. 3/5






closeup on sled and dogs

closeup on the fire and the cat wisely near it


Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Fisherman's Jetty, Antibes, Leon Morrocco

 Liberty, 468 pieces. Good, standard Liberty with areas of similar color that allows steady assembly and nautical-themed whimsies. 3/5





Order in the Court

 Stave, 105 pieces. Amazing challenge for the piece count! Larger pieces than many Teasers. Really has that Teaser characteristic of seeming absolutely impossible until you find the right fit, at which point it seems inevitable, including some that had me smacking my forehead right near the end. 9/10 how is this possible?



the central bit

the way that Clown fits in is a warning

Look at that fit!