I do wooden jigsaw puzzles and take pictures of them.
Anthology, 177 pieces. Small pieces with themed whimsies in the Anthology style. Came in the Hoefnagel box with another Anthology puzzle, Over the Moon, which I actually decided not to do because the pieces were so small--the piece count was 278 but the box was the same size and some of the pieces were basically dots. That was clearly not going to be any fun for me. But this one was fine. 3/5
Stave, 60 pieces. Though a four-sword Teaser, this one wasn't ultimately as hard as others in that vein, and it didn't have as many of the incredible fits that make Teasers my favorites. There was a lot of space in between pieces in many places. Still a big challenge, but also could produce frustration if you didn't already have a lot of experience with Teasers. 6/10
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| Illustration of what I mean--it fits, but the gaps around the ball at the top of the picture, for example, gave minimal guidance/certainty that the fit was right until the very end. I can see where that would be a lot of fun but I think Stave can achieve that with more surprising interactions, as with Order in the Court, which has much more piece to piece contact but is still nightmarishly difficult. |
Waterford, 729 pieces. Lovely, pleasant puzzle with lots of plant-in-pot whimsies and beautiful color. The most amazing bit is the dropouts, some of which are ridiculously tiny. 7/10
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| only one whimsy came out when I flipped it, which is amazing |
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| closeup on tiny dropouts |
Wentworth, 500 pieces. Another perfectly nice Wentworth with garden-themed whimsies, including rubber boots, though I am now impatient to try the new pieces! 3/5
FoxSmartBox, 390 pieces. Nice multipiece animal whimsies and themed connectors, grouped in areas of the puzzle. 3/5
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| deer head themed connectors |
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| a lion |
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| multipiece and upside down |
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| multipiece and right side up |
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| horse |
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| more two-piece--I like the hair on the possum (?) |
Hope Puzzles, 210 pieces. New cutter to me and a promising start. Some interesting whimsies, larger pieces than many other puzzles, no problems with the wood. The large parrothead whimsy (visible as the head of the blue parrot in the image) became a bit too push-fitty for my taste but overall nicely done. 3/5
Wentworth, 500 pieces. A nice image and lots of animal whimsies. I hear that Wentworth may be going to thicker wood, which I would be intrigued to try. 3/5
