The last puzzle from my King box, and also probably the last King puzzle I’ll do for a long time. I can’t see myself buying more of these, the images would have to be really impressive and unique for me to even consider it. I shall no longer be seduced by vintage vehicles!
This was the most entertaining and also the easiest of the set (of five puzzles), there is even some text in there. The artist is Steve Crisp, and for my puzzle challenge, this is the second of two puzzles by the same artist (#28 and #29).
Titanic by Steve Crisp, King, 1000 pieces. Completed on February 23, 2023.
Puzzle number four of five in my King box set. This was reasonably entertaining, and it was easy to work from top to bottom, which I like.
In my puzzle challenge, #28 and #29 are two puzzles from the same artist. I originally thought this meant that we were supposed to do four puzzles (two puzzles by the same artist twice), but have since realized it’s only supposed to be two puzzles total, and the whole challenge is 30 puzzles (not 32). Anyway, this will be the first of those two puzzles, the last puzzle in the box is also by Steve Crisp.
Airshow by Steve Crisp, King, 1000 pieces. Completed on February 22,
When I started spreading out the pieces for this, they somehow felt sturdier and easier to handle than the two previous puzzles from the box set. I was a bit confused, but then I worked out that after doing two King puzzles, I’ve just gotten used to the subpar quality. This was no better and no worse than the first two puzzles in the box.
I’m especially fond of vintage vehicles, so I did find this really entertaining. The postman in the bottom left corner and his car also appear in Watching the Trains.
For my puzzle challenge, this is #18, vintage.
Nostalgia by Kevin Walsh, King, 1000 pieces. Completed on February 19, 2023.
The second puzzle from the five-puzzle set by King. It didn’t really feel much easier than the first, but I’m glad I’m finally getting these done. For my puzzle challenge this is #16, a train.
Watching the Trains by Kevin Walsh, King, 1000 pieces. Completed on February 18, 2023.
I no longer buy King puzzles because the quality is poor, but about four years ago, I got a set of five 1000-piece puzzles. I already knew the quality was not great, but I caved because I liked the images. Since I will be able to use some of the puzzles for my puzzle challenge (not this one), I decided to finally get started on the set.
I chose to do the image that looked most difficult first. The pieces were thin, as usual, and they won’t lie flat, but I have to say, I didn’t have much trouble with false fits. Overall this was not as bad as I was expecting.
Street Gallery, King, 1000 pieces. Completed on February 16, 2023.
Most of the images are city or country landscapes, but there are some portraits, but my absolute favourite was this surrealist painting that looks like it could have been done by Dalí:
Here you can also see the cut, the pieces were either two tabs opposite, or they had one “wavy” side. I definitely prefer more variety.
The brand of this puzzle, Enjoy, was new to me. It’s a Turkish brand, and the quality turned out to be excellent. The pieces are sturdy and there are no false fits. There’s a good mix of piece shapes, and the fit is rather tight. As usual, I really enjoyed doing cakes and pastries, this was a great puzzle!
For my puzzle challenge, this is #12, a brand that is new to me.
Sweet Treats by Carol Wilson, Enjoy, 1000 pieces. Completed on January 29, 2023.
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.
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.
A friend brought me this old wooden puzzle, possibly from the 30s. The brand is NK (Nordiska Kompaniet, a large department store in Sweden), and i think it’s no later than the 30s, possibly even earlier. The box uses an old word for jigsaw puzzle (“läggspel”), whereas we now use the word “pussel”. (My friend said that the earliest use of the word “pussel” she could find was from 1919, but I don’t think this is quite that old.)
There was no image on the box (just the title in Swedish, written by hand). I have to say this must be one of the most difficult puzzles I’ve ever done. Some of it was fun, like working out how the pieces fit together when every piece is completely unique, but the less fun part was that since this is not interlocking, I had to be extremely careful, the slightest touch could push the pieces apart. Also, there were a lot of missing pieces, that also increased the difficulty level. I counted 19 holes, but at least one is so big that that there should probably be two pieces there.
Bullfighting, NK, 350 pieces. Completed on December 18, 2022.
There were many whimsies, here are some examples:
Part of the horse was cut so that it followed the outlines, making it quite tricky:
Anyway, it was fun to get to try a puzzle like this, even though it turned out to be more challenging than I expected.
This was a Christmas present from last year that I finally got round to. It was hard, but nor quite as difficult as I was expecting. The quality was very good, and the random cut hepled as well in the dark parts. Unfortunately, one piece is missing (top right corner).
The image is, of course, the most famous painting by street artist Banksy, where the British members of parliament are shown as chimpanzees.
Devolved Parliament by Banksy, The Gifted Stationary Company, 1000 pieces. Completed on December 14, 2022.
Puzzler1909 