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, September 17, 2025

Autumn, Tim Zeitner

 Boardwalk, 494 pieces. The newer Boardwalks have a much nicer, thicker feel; I don't usually love engraved whimsies but I will concede they work better with thickness like this (though I still think they often interfere with the image). 3/5



multipiece tree



Sunflowers Field

 Dreamton, 200 pieces. Lots of sunflower pieces in this small, irregular-edge puzzle. 3/5





The Pink Cloud, Henri-Edmond Cross

 Elms, 422 pieces. Very beautiful colors make for fun assembly. 7/10




some nice whimsy cutting

woman walking dog




Tuesday, September 16, 2025

The Walk, Marina Castaldo

 Elms, 355 pieces. Nice areas of contained color for steady assembly. The shiny paper is working well in person; I think some effect is lost in photos (at least the kind I'm capable of taking). 6/10






Catula's Castle

 Stave, 455 pieces. This essentially has an extra Tormentor on top of a Traditional puzzle--great fun for me. Also extra versions of some of the figures, which can be deployed with or without the castle Tormentor. 8/10




cute dropout




some of the many, many bats



helloooooo





The Pursuit of Happiness, Rebecca Campbell

 Liberty, 485 pieces. I'm going to bump this up to 5/5 because of the lipstick whimsy; the other clever whimsies are icing on the handbag/shoe cake. 











Monday, September 15, 2025

Purr-Fect Night, Mary Stubberfield

 Wentworth, 240 pieces. Cute image. 3/5





That Winter Spring Came Late, Dr. Seuss

 Liberty, 491 pieces. The Seussian whimsies are standouts here. 3/5










I really like this modification of an existing Liberty whimsy to be more Seussian