Tag: 2024

Monopoly, 2024-01-14

puzzler19092 Comments

Monopoly is not, in my experience, a game that promotes harmony at home, but it does make for a good puzzle image. This is the German version, since I bought it from puzzleoffensive.de. The puzzle was published by Winning Moves, and they seem to be a producer (or distributor) of games, not so much puzzles.

Monopoly, Winning Moves, 1000 pieces. Completed on January 14, 2014.

The quality initially seemed good, with sturdy pieces, and a grid cut with a good mix of piece shapes. Unfortunately, there were quite a few false fits. The cut was also strange in a way that I don’t remember having seen before. In the image below, you can see that every piece has a long side and a short side, and the knobs and holes on the long side always have a square shape, whereas the knobs and holes on the short side have a round shape, and are also smaller.

The false fits made this much harder than you would expect from the image. I’m glad I decided straight away to do the edges last – it would have been impossible to get it right without the rest of the puzzle already done.

For the puzzle challenge I’m doing, this will be #16, a game.

New Horizons, 2024-01-13

puzzler1909Leave a comment

A rather conventional image, but it was still a nice puzzle. It’s been sitting in my do do pile for a good long time, probably because the colour palette is a bit muted. I bought the puzzle second hand, but it turned out to be not only complete, but in excellent condition.

New Horizons by Dominic Davison, Clementoni, 2000 pieces. Completed on January 13, 2024.

For the puzzle challenge I’m doing, this will be #2, a jetty. Here are some newlyweds on the jetty heading for a boat called Next Step.

Red Dragon’s Treasure, 2024-01-07

puzzler19092 Comments

This puzzle had been hovering near my cart for a few years, somehow always ending up not making the cut, until a couple of months ago when I finally bought it. And I’m glad I did, because it’s now sold out (I think I got the last copy), and I very much enjoyed doing it. I especially like the colours. I did the yellow pile of coins first, then the rest of the background, and the red bits of the dragon were last.

Red Dragon’s Treasure, Cobble Hill, 1000 pieces. Completed on January 7, 2024.

For the puzzle challenge I’m doing, this was the bonus challenge for January, which is “dragon”. By the way, the literal meaning of the Finnish word for dragon is “salmon snake” – a rather desperate attempt to describe a dragon using some familiar animals.

CORRECTION: Actually, it seems that the first part probably doesn’t mean salmon here, but it comes from an old Swedish word “floghdraki”, which means flying snake. The Finnish word “lohikäärme” took the first part (flying, flogh) from the Swedish word and used the Finnish word for snake (käärme). A flying snake makes much more sense.

Miami Beach, 2024-01-06

puzzler19093 Comments

Well, it did not take long for the first missing piece of 2024 to turn up, or rather, not to turn up (it’s a bit difficult to see, in a palm tree on the left). I seem to be having a some bad luck with missing pieces lately. Otherwise, the puzzle was enjoyable and I really liked the colours. It’s part of the Trefl Crazy Shapes-series, where starting with the edges is not an option, as you can see.

Miami Beach by P.D. Moreno, Trefl, 600 pieces. Completed on January 6, 2024.

For my puzzle challenge, this will be #13, Moonlight.

Total Control, 2024-01-02

puzzler1909Leave a comment

Back to the Stenvall ducks. This was number 21/30, and I hope to be able to finish the rest of them this year. Puzzle quality was nice, although with a very loose fit. Only the dark area on top was a bit challenging.

Total Control by Kaj Stenvall, Tactic, 1000 pieces. Completed on January 2, 2024.