Done! This was the kind of puzzle where the last 500 pieces took the longest to place. I was supposed to do so many things this weekend…
Hours cake
Historia Comica, Opus 2, 2019-02-17
Month: February 2019
Bathing in the Ganges, 2009-02-06
Not a great photo, but it was a lovely puzzle.
This puzzle was part of a series called Orient, and I completed one other from the series, called Touring Egypt – The Temple of Karnak at Luxor, in April 2008, but unfortunately no photo of that one.
Sheep in the Meadow, 2019-02-14
This is an old Ravensburger puzzle from the late 70s that has obviously been completed many, many times. The pieces are worn, and the colours have faded, but it was still a joy to do because of the fantastic quality. Oh, and there were 11 pieces missing. I got it for 0,50 € in a thrift shop.
Historia Comica, Opus 2, In Progress
So, back to Opus 2. The centre is now connected to the edges!
Heart-Shaped Women
This is going to sound really strange, but when I got this about 10 years ago (it was a gift), I didn’t think of it as a puzzle, but rather as a piece of art. Perhaps because it was already assembled 🙂 The artist, Kata Kissoczy, has a shop in Prague.
So, I took it apart, and found that four pieces were stuck to the board:
I decided to use a bit of force:
… and found out that they are supposed to be there – yes, that’s glue. Oops! I don’t quite understand why, though. There’s also a hole in the board, presumably to hang the puzzle on a wall, maybe that’s why some pieces need to be glued to the board, to stop everything from falling off?
Anyway, while the pieces don’t really form an image of anything in particular, every single piece is a woman:
There are 41 pieces. While putting it together, the images didn’t help at all, of course, it was all down to shape.
Obviously, I chose to do this now because of Valentine’s Day, although I almost missed it. It’s not such a big deal in Finland (or Germany), and it has only become popular in the last 10 years or so. In Finland, it’s called “friend’s day”, and it’s not marketed exclusively as a romantic event, but also as a day to celebrate friendship. Happy Valentine’s Day, friends everywhere!
Vintage, 2019-02-12
Another quick and easy 500 pieces.
Trefl is another Polish brand, and quite similar to Castorland: the cardboard isn’t as thick as Ravensburger, the pieces are a bit smaller, but the fit is good, and all in all they’re very good value.
Victorian Garden, 2019-02-11
I finally managed to finish the puzzle I was working on – it’s kind of slow when you have a cold and need a rest after placing 5 pieces.
It was a nice puzzle to work on, and the colours were very distinct. Sometimes, with this type of puzzle, everything looks like greenish soup until you’re done 🙂
Cordoba, Spain, 2009-01-29
I still have a cold and sleep most of the time, but here’s another old one.
Not quite as easy as it looks.
Unfinished
It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes I do give up on a puzzle. A couple of times I’ve put it away to try again later, but in most cases, it’s definitely goodbye. Here are two examples:
I just couldn’t get the edges and the last bit of grey right. I tried many times, but in the end, it was no fun anymore, so back in the box it went. It’s really too bad, because I love Escher’s stuff, but all Escher puzzles that I’ve ever seen are horrible quality. Selegiochi is an Italian manufacturer, and I’m obviously not getting any more of their puzzles (I don’t know if they’re even active in the puzzle department anymore). It wasn’t cheap either. At least one person managed to finish this, though, since there’s a photo on the Jigsaw Wiki. I take my hat off to whoever completed it.
A more recent case, a puzzle I bought at a flea market. Arrow puzzles (UK manufacturer) are generally not good quality, but this was especially bad. You can see how the pieces wouldn’t stay flat. Again, I just couldn’t get the final bit of sky together. I took some of it apart and tried again, but pretty soon gave up.
When it’s no fun anymore is when you should give up. When there are so many enjoyable puzzles available, why do something you don’t enjoy?
Pluie de couleurs, 2019-02-08
A nice, easy one. I have a cold, so I’m not up for anything big or complicated right now. Nathan only has the name of the puzzle in French. I think it means “Coloured Rain”, but I’m not certain – sadly, I don’t know much French.
I remember reading somewhere that Nathan is just the name Ravensburger uses in France, but I was sceptical since the finish is quite different, very glossy. When I opened the box I was reminded of this, as it says “Kontrollnummer” on the bag, and that is German (technically, it could also be Swedish, and possibly some other language I don’t know, but definitely not French).
So, I had a look on the box:
It says “Ravensburger under licence NATHAN”! Also the sentence all puzzlers like to see, Fabriqué en Allemagne = Made in Germany.
So, apparently, it’s true. And the cut certainly looks like Ravensburger:
The only difference seems to be that the finish is much glossier. I know a lot of people prefer a more matte finish because of glare, but I don’t think it makes much difference. For me, the light is the important factor with glare, and it’s impossible to avoid completely anyway.
Oh, and this is my 100th post!
Puzzler1909 