Author: puzzler1909

I share my time between my native Helsinki (Finland) and Dortmund (Germany), where my football team Borussia Dortmund lives. This blog is about my puzzling actvities in these cities.

Crazy Europe, 2023-01-15

puzzler19092 Comments

I’m back in Dortmund for three weeks. When I’ve been away for a while, I almost feel like I’m getting new puzzles just because I can access my Dortmund stash 🙂 By the way, I now own the flat I’ve rented for five years. The owners wanted to sell, and I did not feel like moving. It was quite a long process (not because I’m from Finland, it just is a long process in Germany). It took four months from signing the contract until everything was finished. In Finland, selling a flat usually takes about 20 minutes, it’s one meeting in a bank.

Anyway, the puzzle. I’m not a fan of King, the pieces are thin, and it’s easy to place pieces wrong. I no longer buy King puzzles, but I still have a set of five puzzles with some nice vintage-type images to do. This was a gift from a friend, which means it is #5, a puzzle chosen for you by someone else, in the puzzle challenge I’m doing.

Crazy Europe, King, 1000 pieces. Completed on January 15, 2023.

Ciao Bambino!, 2023-01-13

puzzler1909Leave a comment

This is an older Heye, it says 1988 on the box. I like these old Loup images, they’re less busy than the newer ones. The Heye cut, however, is much better now. I’m not usually one to complain about loose cuts, but this could barely be called interlocking, it was so loose. Another thing that detracted from the enjoyment was that the previous owner was obviously a heavy smoker. As it happened, this was the last puzzle that I completed before a trip to Dortmund, so I’ve left it out on the table, hoping that a good airing will help with the smell of cigarettes.

Ciao Bambino! by Loup, Heye, 500 pieces. Completed on January 13, 2023.

Circle of Colors: Desserts, 2022-01-12

puzzler19096 Comments

This was a lovely little snack, I did it more or less in one sitting. Somehow, I always find painted cakes even more appealing in puzzles than photographs of actual cakes. This will be #26, a round puzzle, in the puzzle challenge I’m doing.

Circle of Colors: Desserts, Ravensburger, 500 pieces. Completed on January 12, 2023.

Adventures with Alice, 2022-01-11

puzzler19091 Comment

This turned out to be just as entertaining as I’d hoped, although it also kept me up far too late one night 🙂 It reminds me of a game I played on PlayStation 3, called Alice – The Madness Returns, and I loved that game. Most of the time was spent in a beautifully done wonderland, some of it in steam punk style, and then there were some shorter interludes in Victorian London. Anyway, despite being a bit dark, the puzzle was great, and even though I don’t think the Cheshire Cat was in any way dangerous, this is going to be #3, a nightmare, in my puzzle challenge. Because the overall feel here is definitely nightmarish.

Adventures with Alice, Ravensburger, 1000 pieces. Completed on January 11, 2022

Alice in Wonderland, 2023-01-08

puzzler19092 Comments

This is one of the original Alice in Wonderland illustrations by John Tenniel. Great image, and it made for a pleasantly challenging puzzle. I also liked the random cut. The New York Puzzle Company has been on the European market for a few years now, but I now noticed that they have production in Europe as well. This puzzle was made in Germany. The markings on the bag looked like markings I’ve seen before in Heye puzzles, although the cut is completely different.

Alice in Wonderland by John Tenniel, New York Puzzle Company, 1000 pieces. Completed on January 7, 2023.

Green Flashdrive, 2023-01-06

puzzler19092 Comments

I didn’t quite know what to expect from this, I’ve never done a puzzle quite like this before. Fortunately, it didn’t turn out to be all that difficult, and the hardest part was the middle.

Green Flashdrive by Robert Swedroe, Schmidt, 1000 pieces. Completed on January 6, 2023.

Swans, 2023-01-01

puzzler19094 Comments

Not the kind of puzzle I often do, but I liked it. Much to my surprise, the red dress turned out to be the most difficult part, and it was the last thing I completed.

Swans by Cris Ortega, Heye, 1000 pieces. Completed on January 1, 2023.

WASGIJ? x 2

puzzler19098 Comments

I closed out 2022 with two WASGIJ? puzzles. First up, Strictly can’t dance:

This was probably the first WASGIJ puzzle where I didn’t really know where it was going until close to the end. Usually they’re pretty easy to work out, for example, you might have an image of some horrified poodles, and when you spread out the pieces there’s lots of grey fur and teeth, and then you know it’s wolves, and the rest is just filling in the details. (As far as I know, there is no puzzle with poodles and wolves, that was just an example). Anyway, this was great fun, even though there was one piece missing. You can have a peek at the finished puzzle here.

The second WASGIJ was Late Booking:

Here I did know immediately why the tourists are not happy, but it still turned out to be my favourite WASGIJ so far. In fact, I’m going to have to think about possibly keeping this to do again, I loved it so much. You can have a peek at the finished image here.

That was it for 2022, more to come in 2023, of course!