Lekking is a mating ritual where male animals (often birds) show off. I had to look up the English word for this. The title of the puzzle is given only in Swedish, and it’s “Orrspel”, which is specifically the lekking of black grouse, a bird that is found mostly in Northern Europe.
The puzzle is wooden and probably from the 50’s. It was quite difficult, as there was no image on the box (as is usual for the period and brand). The sky, ice and snow mostly looked the same, and there was a lot of it.
Lekking, Nyckelpussel, 600 pieces. Completed on February 17, 2024.
As you can see, the bottom right corner piece is missing, but that happened while I was working on the puzzle. It was there, and then I noticed it was gone, and I can’t find it anywhere. I’m usually pretty chill about missing pieces, but knowing it’s in the flat and not being able to find it is much more annoying then just having a missing piece.
For the puzzle challenge, this is #9, done without looking at the image.
One of the more difficult items on the puzzle challenge list is #24, “fits no item on the list”. That means a long list of things that are not allowed to be in the puzzle, including letters, fruit or a forest. Especially letters ruled out a lot of puzzles. Some would count this as #23, “out of the comfort zone”, but large areas with the same colour don’t really scare me, I have something much worse in mind for #23… For me, this is #24, “fits no other item on the list”.
Krypt Silver, Ravensburger, 654 pieces. Completed on February 16, 2024.
I did the edges and the innermost part of the circle first. After that I started using the map where you can see the exact cut (so that you always know exactly what piece shape you’re looking for ), and I also sorted the pieces by shape at that point. Then I started filling in the corners, and finally I did the circle from the outside in. At first, I found it a bit boring, but in the end I couldn’t stop and stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it.
Another duck on a bed. The cut was not quite as good as with the previous one, it’s not bad, but a bit off. Some of the duck puzzles are like that, unfortunately, and I’m doing the newest puzzles last, so it’s likely to become worse. Despite the less than excellent cut, I enjoyed the puzzle a lot.
!§#¤!! good morning by Kaj Stenvall, Tactic, 1000 pieces. Completed on February 8, 2024.
The Finnish title contains a non-censored swear word (Helvetin hyvää huomenta), and I might translate it as “Bloody good morning”.
For the puzzle challenge, #28-29 is two puzzles from the same series, and this is #29.
Back to the Stenvall duck puzzles. I hope to have them all finished this year. This was actually a really entertaining puzzle. Doing these duck puzzles, I’ve come to realize how much I enjoy puzzles with large areas of similar colour, where there is a gradual change in colour tone, like the wall (and some other parts as well) that goes from very light on the left to quite dark on the right. The quality was also excellent, and the puzzle was factory sealed.
Distance Between a Near and Dear Friend by Kaj Stenvall, Tactic, 1000 pieces. Completed on February 6, 2024.
For the puzzle challenge, #28-29 is two puzzles from the same series, and this is #28.
#5 on the puzzle challenge list is “a jewel in my collection”. I actually have many puzzles that would fit, but the one I most felt like doing again was this lovely Artifact wooden puzzle, gifted to my by Stacey at My Jigsaw Journal. It was just as much fun the second time around, thank you again, Stacey! You can find close-ups of the whimsies in my first post about this puzzle.
The Messenger by Kevin Sloan, Artifact, 313 pieces.
A really fun and easy puzzle. I don’t time myself puzzling, but this must be one of the fastest puzzles I ever did. Pretty much everything in the image looks familiar, although not everything is stuff that I would specifically connect with the 90’s (like cassettes, LPs and lava lamps).
The 90s, Ravensburger, 1000 pieces. Completed on February 3, 2024.
I chose to do this puzzle now because the bonus puzzle challenge for February is a ring (the kind you put on your finger), and there’s a yin yang ring in the image:
This is a vintage Ravensburger (it says copyright 1981 on the box), and the quality is fantastic. I was also happy to find the puzzle complete and in good condition.
Viking Line, Ravensburger, 1000 pieces. Completed on February 1, 2024.
Viking Line operates a ferry/cruise service between Helsinki and Stockholm (they have other routes as well, but especially in the 80’s, I’m pretty sure this was their main route). You would be hard pressed to find a Finn who has never been on one of these cruises, although nowadays the route to Tallinn in Estonia is probably more popular.
You can’t make out the name of the ship on the puzzle, but of the two ships that I’m aware of from this era (Viking Sally and Diana II), this looks a lot more like Viking Sally based on the images I was able to find.
Viking Sally has quite the history. Viking Line operated the ship from 1980-1990, and during that time, there were two murders on the ship. A Finnish business man was murdered in 1986, and in 1987, a German student was killed and his girlfriend severely injured in a brutal attack. The second murder is still unsolved, although a Danish man was tried for it just a few years ago, over 30 years after the crime. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough evidence for a conviction.
After Viking Line sold the ship, it finally ended up with Estonian shipping company Estline, and they named it Estonia. The Estonia sank in a storm en route from Tallinn to Stockholm on September 28, 1994, after the bow visor had been broken off in the rough seas. The sinking was very fast, and 852 people lost their lives. Only 137 survived. The closest rescue station was in Turku, Finland, and the survivors were also brought to Turku. While most of the passengers were Estonian or Swedish, the impact of the disaster was felt in Finland as well. Most people who were around then will be able to tell you when they first heard of the sinking. I may have been one of the last people to find out. In the morning, I left for the University Library without listening to any news (the sinking had happened around 1 am). I spent the day studying, and I didn’t really talk to anyone. On my way home, I wondered why so many flags were flying at half mast. When I got home I turned on the TV, and only then, late in the afternoon, did I hear about what had happened.
The ship in the puzzle may not be Viking Sally, but it looks very similar. You can also see the seam of the bow visor:
For the puzzle challenge, this will be #20, a vehicle that I’ve travelled in.
This turned out to be really enjoyable, proving that it really was just that I was in the wrong mood when doing Pink. There were enough slightly larger objects, and the text also helped to keep it interesting, but not too challenging.
Yellow, Cobble Hill, 1000 pieces. Completed on January 31, 2024.
For the puzzle challenge this will be #19, yellow.
Puzzler1909 