Month: March 2019

Puzzling on TV

puzzler19095 Comments

The most famous on-screen puzzle must be the one in Citizen Kane (photos and analysis here), but here are some that I recently came across on TV:

  1. Dallas

img_20181108_002210

On Dallas, Christopher and John Ross are being told off for playing with a gun. In the background, there’s a 500-piece puzzle. It looks like an MB, but I’m not sure. And yes, I recently rewatched Dallas. All of it, while puzzling of course šŸ™‚

2. The Fall

img_20190111_220026

On the great British show The Fall, a serial killer amuses himself with a puzzle. You can’t see what puzzle it is.

3. Bad Blood

img_20190320_003312

In Bad Blood, Series 1, Episode 6, gangster Vito Rizzuto is doing a puzzle and recounts how he used a puzzle to teach his son about life. Again, you can’t tell what puzzle it is, this is the best shot of it.

Vito: “I sent the new guy out to get me a puzzle and I told him to throw away the box so now I don’t know what it is. ”

Declan [henchman]: “What?”

Vito: “When Nico was a kid, I did the same thing, I threw away the box and we sat there for, like, about two months. You know, trying to do it, it was nothing, nothing, nothing, and then finally, you know, you get the right piece… snapped into place… [he places a piece] and you see the whole landscape. It was like… like a revelation. I was teaching him a life lesson. About patience, tenacity, work ethic… When it all came together, I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody that excited in my life.”

Yummy Yellow, 2019-03-18

puzzler19092 Comments

Got this for 0,50 ā‚¬ from a recycling centre, and it turned out to be complete! Not all that easy, but yellow is my favourite colour šŸ™‚ I’ve done another collage by the same artist, completed in April 2008, but no photo of that one. These are great examples of images that are entertaining puzzles that I would never like on my wall.

IMG_20190318_044138
Yummy Yellow by Andrea Tilk, Heye, 500 pieces. Completed on March 18th, 2019.

Painted Ceiling in Sant’Ignazio, 2009-02-15

puzzler19094 Comments

This puzzle is missing from my records, but since the photo was taken on February 15th, 2009, I’m assuming that’s when I finished it. I don’t have the puzzle anymore, but I’m pretty sure the brand was Piatnik. I don’t know the correct title either, but the image is Andrea Pozzo’s painting in the church Sant’Ignazio, in Rome.

img_2812

King Tut, 2009-01-24

puzzler1909Leave a comment

One more Egyptian themed puzzle.

img_2681
King Tut, Gibsons, 1000 pieces. Completed on January 24th, 2009.

I think you can see Howard Carter by the sarcophagus of Tutanchamum below on the right.

This is one of only two Gibsons puzzles I’ve completed, and in both cases, I found that pieces fit where they don’t belong. Otherwise, the quality was good, with thick pieces and great colours. The finish is waxy, which I don’t much like.

img_2677img_2675

Bavaria, In Progress

puzzler19093 Comments

I started on a new Heye 2000 piece puzzle, Bavaria by Ryba. This was the kind of puzzle that I could see with one glance that I wanted, and I bought it without looking too closely at the image. I guess I was seeing exactly what I wanted to see, because I thought it was Neuschwanstein as a vampire castle, only now that I started on it did I see that it’s only old Ludwig who built the castle šŸ˜€ He does look kind of sinister if you don’t look too closely, doesn’t he? Anyway, I bet it’s still the most entertaining Neuschwanstein puzzle of all time!

img_20190316_112112

The Zodiac, 2019-03-18

puzzler19093 Comments

Nice and colourful zodiac, bought used but complete. I’ve lost count of how many Educa puzzles I’ve bought since I decided I wouldn’t buy any more Educa puzzles šŸ˜€

img_20190313_231003
The Zodiac by Joel Nakamura, Educa, 1000 pieces. Completed on March 13th, 2019.

This had such distinct areas in various colours that I thought pieces fitting where they shouldn’t wouldn’t be a problem. It wasn’t for the most part, but you had to pay close attention especially with the sky and clouds. Educa often has brilliant images, too bad about the fit. I’m not sorry I got it, though, it was still the kind of puzzle that makes me happy.

In fact, the most annoying thing was the box, it had taken some damage, not bad, but just enough so that the box wouldn’t remain upright while empty. Oh, well.

Vintage Nancy Drew, 2019-03-11

puzzler19095 Comments
img_20190311_210052
Vintage Nancy Drew, Cobble Hill, 1000 pieces. Completed on March 11th, 2019.

Book covers always make great puzzles, but this one was a bit more difficult than I expected. I started out with the titles, and that was easy, but the rest was a lot slower. The text “By Carolyn Keene” appeared so often it wasn’t much help šŸ™‚ The irregular cut also increased the difficulty level a bit. I’ve always wondered about the piece count of irregularly cut puzzles, so I decided to count the pieces as I took it apart: there are 984 pieces.

Anyway, the covers are lovely, this is my favourite:

img_20190311_230449

 

La Goulue, 2019-03-11

puzzler19098 Comments

A 150-piece puzzle with tiny pieces, this was the last in the lot of four puzzles that I bought. The image is a poster by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec showing the famous can-can dancerĀ Louise Weber, known as “La Goulue”, the Glutton (because she would swipe drinks from the customers while dancing).

img_20190311_155046
La Goulue by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Micropuzzle, 150 pieces. Completed on March 11th, 2019.

Instead of a box, there’s a plastic test tube. The puzzle has the tiniest pieces I’ve ever seen, definitely smaller than the Educa miniature pieces:

img_20190311_161558

The quality was not good, but for a puzzle this small it was no problem. I originally intended to do this on a flight, and the pieces would easily have fitted on the tray, but then I thought of turbulence and decided to save it for later. Which was just as well, as we actually had some turbulence.