Landscape

I never thought I would like mini puzzles- so small! They looked tedious, and as if would cause me finger cramps or eyestrain. But now my opinion is completely changed, because I tried some, and they were perfect for travel. I’ve even changed my opinion of those cheap-looking puzzles with all this lettering on the back. Some puzzlers say it’s cheating to use those to sort into sections. I found it extremely useful for puzzling on my flight home.

I used the same cardboard box/tray as for the Minipix puzzles. But this puzzle was larger- finished size 12 x 16.5″ (still very small for a one-thousand-piece puzzle!) No way it could fit in the tray. So I sorted by the lettering into ziploc baggies before my flight, and cut some cardstock and cereal boxes to fit the tray- a sheet to go between each puzzle section. Then I was able to do one section of the puzzle in the tray, put a sheet of cardstock over, do the next section and so on, in layers. It worked great! Upon arriving home, I opened my little box and all the segments were still in place- this is the first one I did

and this is the second part

and I started on a third, but didn’t get far before the landing.

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of this puzzle. Made in Japan; I can’t read any of the information on the box- it’s all in characters. In spite of their tiny size- average to my pinkie fingernail- and being all one knob, one hole shapes- the pieces did have just enough variation within the shape/lean of the knobs, arms, etc, that by paying careful attention and looking closely (and there’s not much else to do on a long flight) I was able to assemble it just fine. A few times I got stuck with a false fit, but then you use the cheat, flip the pieces over and see if the lettering aligns on the back. Useful again! And unlike the Minipix set, these pieces had a very snug fit. No problems with anything scattering, and when I finished the whole thing at home, I was able to lift it up, the puzzle held together very well (some people use this as a test for quality, I don’t but it’s still fun to do).

Overall I was quite pleased, I found it much more engaging to do than the previous two mini puzzles, was very satisfied with the puzzling process, and I didn’t find it tedious or annoying to handle all those tiny pieces. I did grow my fingernails out longer than usual just to be able to manipulate them more easily, and it helped! At the end I found the whole thing quite charming and now I am very fond of this little puzzle. I’m going to keep my eye out for more of the same kind.

When I got home, pieced together what I’d done on the plane- here are those segments with the rest of the pieces in their sorted piles.

Next fitted together with the border, that’s where the final assembly shots begin. (The hardest part was the last section with all the pink tree blossoms). Completed on 7/27/24.