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.

Friday, June 3, 2022

Meguro Drum Bridge and Sunset Hill, Utagawa Hiroshige

 Sr. B Puzzles Workshop, 548 pieces. Small pieces and consistent cutting style plus large areas of similar color make this a difficult puzzle to assemble, giving you time to appreciate the image. The bonus puzzle is a famous image as well. 4/5






Thursday, June 2, 2022

Bumfuzzled

 Puzzle Bomb, 100 pieces. The shipping delays were quite dramatic, but the result was a nice entry into the imageless, piece shape-driven puzzle category. Like others', mine came with some extra bits that weren't part of the puzzle (dropouts left over from cutting), but they were clearly marked. Will definitely be watching these folks. 3/5 (and there's a bonus metal puzzle that my daughter is going to use for decorative purposes)

bonus ice cream puzzle





Eye of the Tiger

 Stave, 240 pieces. This is a Treat, both by name and by nature--one of those miracles of design in which pieces that don't look like they fit before you put them together are obviously inevitable once joined. 8/10 tremendous fun





Noongar, Djilba--Five of Six, Kevin Bynder

 Mr. Bob, 252 pieces. Another good example of the type, with a few more whimsies than the other one I just did. 3/5





Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Noongar, Makuru--Four of Six, Kevin Bynder

 Mr. Bob, 252 pieces. A good size for this cutter, with standard Australian-themed whimsies and a colorful image. 3/5





The Kiss, Gustav Klimt

 Sr. B Puzzles Workshop, 456 pieces. There's a lot of similar-looking areas of color in The Kiss, which can vary in distinguishability depending on the print. It was vaguely possible to sort some of the brown, but this was nonetheless quite a challenge especially given the small pieces. I loved the bonus mini puzzle and ultimately enjoyed it, but if you get frustrated easily I would not choose this type of image from this cutter. 4/5




flipped by picking up at the corner


Van Gogh, Les Fritillaires

 Louise Barnard, 277 pieces. One or two pieces expertly replaced (I couldn't tell which ones and didn't really try). The cutting style was nicely organic, with lots of huge knobs that fit into the intersection of two other pieces. I don't know exactly what makes a cutting style a good match for its image, but I felt happy about this one, despite the image being a tad dark for my taste. (It looks a great deal brighter assembled for what I'm sure are good color theory reasons.) 4/5