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.

Monday, July 29, 2024

Rays the Bar

 Stave, 120 pieces. Great Teaser, with fun shapes. 7/10




Steele Briggs Seed Catalog 1898

 BCB Puzzles, 161 pieces. Very nice small puzzle in BCB's round-knob style. 3/5




Eyes Full of Stars, Marie-Claude Fournier

 Victory, 548 pieces. I've had this queued for a while but there was a missing piece; fortunately, the folks at Victory worked very hard to get a replacement piece. Unfortunately, it broke during transit--might need bubble wrap next time!--but wood glue works well. Anyway, this is a Mark Capitella cut which manages to get a fair amount of color-line cutting and tricky split connectors. 4/5

very recognizable piece style



split connector


picture taken when missing piece not yet replaced




Friday, July 19, 2024

Six Bird Hunters in Full Camouflage

Stave, 405 pieces. Punches above its weight in piece count because of all the black, aided by clever cut design. 8/10




Rebus: hen cog knee toe


anti-bird violence


Chris Yates, Remote Archipelago

 Chris Yates, 61 pieces. A nice little example of Yates's work with mostly standard connectors and a nice 3-D element. 3/5




The Hat Shop

 BCB Puzzles, approx. 150 pieces. Challenging Teaser-style puzzle despite the fact that there aren't ultimately a huge number of dropouts between the whimsy pieces. 3/5



example of interaction

another closeup


Thursday, July 18, 2024

French Quarter Horse Post, Frenchy

 Liberty, 463 pieces. A very nice Liberty with lots of different colors and some areas of consistent color mixed with variation, plus New Orleans-themed whimsies. 3/5




one of several masks

fleur-de-lis




Happy Valley, Marina Castaldo

 Elms, 430 pieces. A nice light-colored image with slight variations that eventually revealed themselves. 6/10








Venice, Italy

 Padma, 337 pieces. I think these three that I've done give a good sense of Padma's style--again bright colors and themed connectors. This time there are also standalone letters. 3/5







Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Edo Tako

 Padma Puzzles, 211 pieces. Another puzzle with well-designed themed connectors. 3/5





Cobbler Shop

 Puzzlapy, 131 pieces. Another Teaser-style design by Dee Rogers--this one is relatively simple with few gaps between the teaser pieces, though it still requires some thought to assemble. 4/5



piece fit example


Symmetry in Motion

 Stave, 490 pieces. Great image that was a pleasure to assemble. 7/10










the whale is wearing a hat

surfer clown

rebus (reversed so it's in the right order)