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 🙂
I still have a cold and sleep most of the time, but here’s another old one.
Not quite as easy as it looks.
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?
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!
Most map puzzles are world maps, and it’s always good to have a little variety. Less water than on a world map 🙂
I’m leaving for Dortmund again today, so here’s an update on Opus 2:
Many of the panes are now connected to either the border or the piece of space in the middle.
Here’s one that I missed when I was writing up the Egyptian fakes. A mosaic-style pharaoh (?) hunting.
This was the first Sunsout puzzle I ever did, and I was amazed at the irregular cut. This was the first time I’d seen that, and since Eurographics cuts are also somewhat irregular, I thought all American puzzles had irregular cuts instead of the “European” grid cut. While this is hardly wild, it still made the puzzle quite challenging for me.
The Colosseum in Rome. Emperor Vespasian began construction in 70 AD, and the building was finished by his son, emperor Titus in 80 AD. It was originally known as Amphitheatrum Flavium, the amphitheatre of the Flavians, as Vespasian and Titus had the family name Flavius. It’s been estimated that it could hold up to 80 000 spectators. In addition to gladiatorial combats, other types of spectacles could also be organized, and the most exotic was surely the mock sea battles. In the middle ages, it was no longer used for entertainment but had other uses, such as housing. I wonder if the Colosseum was considered a desirable address. Now it is, of course, one of Rome’s top tourist attraction.
The puzzle itself was a bit on the difficult side, although the great Ravensburger quality helped, of course.
I’ve mostly been filling in the corners, but some progress on various panes as well.
A Heye cartoon puzzle by Loup, perhaps not as busy as many newer images. Certainly more sky than usual. This was originally released in 1987 (as Paris! Paris!), then re-released in 2010, and mine is from 2015.
I did the tower first, then the edges and the sky last. I only found the last edge piece after I was halfway done, I was convinced I’d lost it.
I love these klutzy birds, very loupy 🙂
Puzzler1909 