Charles Wysocki, Gulls Nest

Faith Kenton, 183 pieces. Marked 1989 on box. Hand-cut with some plywood splinters hanging around, but pleasant and nicely rounded pieces. 3/5

Fanning the Flame, Karyn Gabaldon

Joyful Nook, 604. Based on the shared N whimsy, I am guessing that this is a version/cousin of Nook puzzles, though the selection on the website seems different (with the possible exception of one heart-shaped puzzle). The cutting style also seems different, with less in the way of fragile whimsies. The pieces here were very small--604 pieces in a 12x12 grid is a lot. Though there were other whimsies, the main design element in the cut is a huge bonsai tree in a pot. 3/5

Majestic Wolf

Unidragon, 310 pieces. I think this is a Russian style--at least there seem to be multiple Russian sellers who like to engrave the back and use very colorful animal images of this sort. Small pieces, irregular edge, busy image that is harder than it might seem because so much is going on in any given piece. Liked the multipiece wolf head whimsy. 3/5

many of these whimsies are easier to see on the other side because of the complexity of the image

mini wolf head!

maxi wolf head

Octopus, Lymon Aksamit

Liberty, 495 pieces. Unusual shaped Liberty with multiple drop-outs and some sections (chunks of the octopus arms that are "behind" other arms in the picture) that are pure color line cut. Almost all of the whimsies are octopuses. Limited color range with subtle shifts in the color of the dots adds to the difficulty. A nice change of pace! 5/5

Mandala Stones

Nautilus, 432 pieces. Very colorful puzzle with snowflake (or mandala?) whimsies enough variety to keep it interesting. Nautilus whimsies are a bit less complex than Wentworth but otherwise pretty comparable. 3/5

Peacock and Pattern, Jane Tattersfield

Liberty, 408 pieces. The newer generation of Libertys have a lot more multi-piece figures, like the elaborate tigers and peacocks here. The colorful image with repeated techniques adds difficulty, but I think I liked the peacock feather whimsies best. 4/5

tiger!

peacock (and some others)

central peacock feather whimsies in different forms

another tiger!

another big peacock and then a slightly smaller one

Under the Ocean

Mr. Gogo, 428 pieces. Unusual for Mr. Gogo, this puzzle has multipiece whimsies in the shape of some of the fish/animals depicted--which translates to a bit of color line cutting. Very nicely done, as usual. 4/5

whimsies removed