Tag: puzzles

This puzzle was a lot more difficult than it looks! Standard ribbon cut, but a decent variety of the piece shapes within that. All the muted earth tones made lots of pieces hard to distinguish from each other on the table- which were uneven ground, or rock, or eagle feathers . . . Made it all the more satisfying to finish, though. Including a progress shot here to show the upper falls and second eagle, which are hard to see in the final picture because I didn’t account for glare.

Completed on 1/29/24

This puzzle amused me because I recognized the tiger and cub- exactly same as from this other one. I wonder if there are other puzzles out there with all the other animal pairs- is there one with just the panda and cub, one with the jaguar, another of the parrots? I wouldn’t be surprised. Once again, it looks like a picture with as many animals as possible crammed in there- that in no way would ever sit in such close proximity in real life. So many frogs! But with all the bright colors and different textures- fur, leaves, etc- it was nice to do. Decent variety of piece shapes. Caused me some finger pain.

Completed on 1/25/24

What a lovey picture. But when completed, it felt a bit too soft to appreciate as a puzzle. It was a joy to assemble- the detailed texture of the artwork- you could literally see every strand of the child’s hair for example- was exquisite. The piece shapes very cool, with some as little wedges, other with double knobs (making me think of walking animals) and more oddities. Nice surface, too. However when it was all done, the edges of the puzzle pieces jumped out at me way more than the image itself. My husband remarked on how nice it looked, but I couldn’t help wishing it had a bit stronger contrast for that reason.

Completed on 1/23/24

This puzzle was a challenge! The oval shape made it very interesting- and the pieces were in a kind of ribbon spiraling pattern, with some nicely odd shapes among them. It took me quite a while to finish, especially when it got down to the background, with all those subtle greens. Some finger pain.

Completed on 1/21/24

I thought I would like this puzzle. I enjoyed putting the horses together. The rest, not so much. The sky took some time and started to feel tedious- lots of just trying every possible piece in a spot until one fit. The grass was also difficult. And a bit boring to do. I noticed the puzzle had a lot of four-knob pieces, so amused myself by trying to fit everything but those in place for a section first, and then all the four-knobs last. You can see that in the progress shots if I get around to uploading them here. Some finger pain. Completed on 1/18/24.

Chocolate Lab Water’s Edge

made by Ceaco  ~  artist Mark Fredrickson  ~  550 pieces

Although I am finding that I’m not a fan of Ceaco puzzles in general (the piece cut is always the same, and hurts my skin, and the pictures are often very bright and “busy” for lack of a better word) I really like this image. The details are great. It’s one where there’s so much going on, but relatively subtle- other little animals in the background, the dog looking so intense and alert but not noticing the bird alongside, the fish darting away from his paws (I feel like I should recognize what species this is, but I don’t. Bass?)

There’s also a frog, turtle, ducks, and a snail in there.

And a hummingbird, pulling a tuft of fiber out from the cattail.

From CList, bought used. Completed on 1/14/24

Chocolate Lab 2

made by Ceaco  ~  artist Mark Fredrickson  ~  550 pieces

While this one was fun, I’m not quite as keen on it as the other. This lab leaping through a stream just looks so goofy with wild excitement. I feel the same about the puzzle quality itself as the companion one. The fur texture is just incredibly detailed. This one has lots of animals in the background- some looking quite alarmed- a heron, owl, some kind of rosy passerine bird, two deer, a frog, turtle, squirrel, three skunks, a bear,

fox

and a raccoon barely visible, hurrying away through the trees.

Purchased new. Completed on 1/15/24

Sea Serenity

made by Masterpieces ~ artist Steve Read ~ 500 pieces

I was surprised that I really enjoyed this one. Ribbon piece cut but it ran in waves instead of straight lines, and had plenty of variety within the standard shapes. Nice picture- more realistic than some (like below). I found myself enjoying the details even though I couldn’t find all the hidden images. Realized partway through that there were images in the shapes of things- nicely done, too- plus other outlines that show up if you look at it in the dark. Glow-in-the-dark. Both kind of disappointing- the hidden images were hard to make out on the actual puzzle, I only found a few because I noticed them on the box picture, and there was no indication of how many. The glowing lines showed up if the puzzle had bright light on it for a while right before being switched into the dark- which wasn’t the situation very often. That had (as far as I could tell) outlines of main parts of the picture, plus some additional dolphins and other things. It was hard to make out. But aside from those details, I liked it as just a plain puzzle! From the neighborhood free exchange.

Completed on 1/12/24

Ocean Harmony

made by Ceaco  ~  artist Howard Robinson  ~  550 pieces

Another dolphin puzzle, felt packed with as many sea creatures as the artist could think to put in there. It was engaging to put together, but not my favorite kind of picture. Piece cut felt very repetitive. Some parts, particularly with all the blue, and corals with the same shape repeated over and over, were tricky. Made my fingers sore, too.

Completed on 1/13/24

I took a photo of the two together on my board, just for fun:

Little Mischief

made by Masterpieces ~ photographer Keith Kimberlin ~ 500 pieces

Very nice relatively easy puzzle. Wonderful shape variety. I put it on the floor when done, for a quick photo (the one taken night before came out with too much glare) and didn’t notice that a piece or two got knocked a bit loose. Below the paws. Oops!

Completed 1/10/24

Bluebird Blossoms

made by Buffalo Games ~  photographer Marie Read ~  500 pieces

This one was definitely tricky, being based on a photograph (like the puppy) but having very little shape variety past the standard ribbon cut. The vivid blue of that bird so intense I couldn’t stop staring at it. Once past the bird, all the flowers a confusion and the background color pieces pretty indistinguishable from each other. Required lots of repeated try-every-possibility-in-this-one-spot, which feels tedious. But I was very satisfied to put the last piece in! The pieces caused me some slight pain, which I ignored or rubbed off my fingers periodically. Resorted to washing hands after longer sittings.

Completed on 1/11/24

This puzzle had thin, flimsy pieces, ribbon cut with all the same shape- exactly two knobs, two holes, hardly any variation therein. That’s very boring, and frustrating with the number of false fits, but I did really like the picture! Especially the cat fur, which was the more difficult area. Someone before me had separated the edges out, and it was complete. Shiny surface gave me finger pain, I washed my hands frequently. Odd thing, a few pieces had a shift in color (all to the same degree) I think these must have been left sitting in the sun or something:

I liked it enough to keep for at least one more re-assembly, regardless. Completed on 1/9/24.