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, October 29, 2024

Sweet Dreams

 Stave, 80 pieces. Marked as a 3-sword Teaser, but not incredibly challenging (it's possible my standards just keep drifting higher). Nice design! 7/10






Dall-E, Animals in Motion

 Artifact, 225 pieces. I probably wouldn't have put this on my Hoefnagel list if I'd paid enough attention to see it was AI-generated art. I just don't see the point--the images are certainly no better, and there's no human art to connect with. But it arrived, and not doing it wouldn't have changed much, so here are the pictures:





Pesky Seagulls, Bonnie White

 Elms, 319 pieces. I love the Jonathan Livingston Seagull book whimsy. 6/10









Thursday, October 24, 2024

Alfredo Ramos Martinez, Maria Between Flowers

 Artifact, 245 pieces. The standout here is the complex and fun border. 3/5






Stumpcraft minis

Cute and some alternate solutions, though I only put one together. 3/5

Marsh, Meadow, Mountain, Catherine Robertson 61 pieces



look at how the cut goes around the bird's beak at the bottom left!

This is It, Cecile Albi 62 pieces




Comin' Round the Mountain, Julie deBoer 73 pieces




Emerald Lake, Ruolin Shi 62 pieces







Lilac, Pierre-Joseph Redouté

 Salt Pond Puzzles, 175 pieces. Another really impressive hand-cut puzzle, with intricate dropouts making for high difficulty despite the relatively low piece count. 8/10 Stave scale (but the wood could still use a little bit of improvement)






Friday, October 18, 2024

Roads to Romance

 Liberty, 723 pieces. A fairly standard--and therefore fun--Liberty map puzzle. 3/5





Horsing Around

 Salt Pond Puzzles, 72 pieces. This Teaser-style puzzle was a lot of fun, probably 3 sword equivalent, in significant part because the frame had small dropouts to make it harder to connect specific pieces. My only complaint was that the wood felt a little softer than my ideal. If you like Teasers, put this on your Hoefnagel list! 7/10






Tulips, Elana Feliciano

 Pixels Puzzles, 122 pieces.  Nice curvy cut on thick wood in this small hand-cut puzzle. 4/5





Thursday, October 17, 2024

Tanomura Chokunyu, White Clouds and Crimson Trees

 Artifact, 155 pieces. Another nice, small puzzle with an unusual shape and a geometric cut. 3/5





Hands of Light

 Puzzlapy, 189 pieces. A nice example of the cutter's style, with a replacement piece. 3/5