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, February 3, 2021

On Lines Between Lions

 Par, 752 pieces. Very difficult--you can see why Par is a classic. 7/10





Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Spirited Fox

 Jigsawow, 195 pieces. Another puzzle with irregular edges and a color theme for the animal face depicted--I like them fine. 3/5





Portrait of an Elizabethan Woman

 350-ish, Snowflake Puzzles. Well-cut, relatively thin wood, whimsy-free; a Snowflake puzzle is a predictable hand-cut experience and this one delivered what I expected, with some difficulty in the intricate elements of the subject's dress. 3/5




Paul Bond, Octopus

 Artifact, 140 pieces. Small but mighty--the irregular edges make this harder than the piece count suggests. Bonus for the shark eating the swimmer. 3/5

shark eating swimmer in middle


Jonah in the whale



Monday, February 1, 2021

Spencer Gore, Icknield Way

 Artifact, 317 pieces. Nice autumnal colors and some dino whimsies, visible just above the horizon line. 3/5



a city inside the puzzle

3D element with signpost


Virus

Basis Wood, 321 pieces. This is my favorite Basis puzzle so far (they sell on Amazon). Like many middling producers, they make some pieces that are really too tiny for the rest of the puzzle, but it's not ridiculous. I liked the colors and the viral whimsies, though of course not everyone will be up for it. 3/5


viral particles


multi piece whimsy


I liked having the whimsy overlapping with the image



Field of Dreams

 Images of Nature, 350 pieces. It's poppy fields, get it? The difficulty came from lots of areas of similar color, mitigated by the perspective that made the flowers different sizes at different parts of the image. 3/5