I have recently discovered my love for jigsaw puzzles. Well, technically, I’ve always liked jigsaws, but haven’t done them since I was a kid when my mom would set up the card table and dump out a box. What changed was I found an online app—Jigsaw Planet—that is perfect for my iPad.
At breakfast and lunch, I typically solve crosswords while I eat, but I’ve got to focus on those. One day there was a story I wanted to listen to on NPR, and I remembered Jigsaw Planet. I jigged and listened and ate and had a grand ‘ol time.
I can’t do more than about 300 pieces because I just don’t have enough room to arrange them to my satisfaction. It seems 224 or 260 is my sweet spot. (Someone pointed out to me that I can change the number of pieces for any puzzle, which truly and irrevocable rocked my world.)
The funny thing about my system is that I never remember what picture I’m trying to create. I choose something from a bunch of thumbnails …
… click on one of them …
… then start sorting pieces.
I put together the frame first.
As I put it together, I kinda sorta maybe remember what picture I’m trying to make …
And then I finally finish.
Because I completely lose track of time, I must set my timer. By the time I come back to it, again I have absolutely no idea what I’m supposed to be doing. Seascape? Elephant? Minnie Mouse? Colorful Havana taxis? No idea. You can click a button to see the picture again, or even put a ghost image on the board. Both of those seem like cheating, though. *shrug* I’ll see it when I’m finished.
There’s a truly satisfying CLICK when you snap the correct pieces together, which I love. You can check the time it took you to solve a puzzle, (in my case above, 72 minutes) or see the times for anyone else, which I find horrifying and much less satisfying. It usually takes me at least five minutes just to sort my pieces, and some people have finished the puzzle in that time! Crazy! Who needs that kind of competitive turmoil in their life? And do people really sit still for 72 minutes and work a puzzle??
I also like the way solving a jigsaw allows my mind to wander, when I’m not listening to NPR, that is.
For instance, I’ve recently traveled these weighty mental paths—
• is there anyone who doesn’t find all the edge pieces first and if there are, are they psychopaths?
• if, as Jeff Goldblum says in Jurassic Park, a butterfly can flap its wings in Peking, and in Central Park you get rain instead of sunshine, then why doesn’t a ginormous albatross affect the weather on Mars?
• if my eyelashes are supposed to keep things out of my eyes, why is it always an eyelash I pull outta there?
• how did people make the first tools, if there were no tools to make stuff?
• why don’t fish have eyebrows?
• how did it come to be that “I’m up for it” and “I’m down for it” mean the same thing?
If you want to ponder any of those while you do a jigsaw, here are a couple puzzles I made. Just click the “play as” button and make them as easy or hard as you want.
Jigsaw link for Booked, Plotted, Bound
Nala
Nala
Aside from reading, what are your favorite ways to stretch your brain?
Chicks on the Case 
I like to do Search A Word puzzles. After the hurricane and we didn’t have internet for 15 days, I’m kind of glad I had a few search a work puzzle books around. All that was on tv was news about the hurricane.
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Ay yi yi! FIFTEEN DAYS?? Torture. Like you, I’ve stockpiled crosswords from the newspaper … just in case.
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Once I finish my real job for the day, I have very few brain cells left. So what do I do to stretch my brain? I fliping write. And might be a story map, or just writing a scene for no reason whatsoever, or I work on my manuscripts that I’m trying to get published. Other than that I talk to my hubbs, and of course, I’m always talking about writing.
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That’s funny, Hestia … I’m just the opposite. By about 4pm I’m absolutely braindead. There’s no way I can write anything after that. I can barely form coherent sentences some days! My hat’s off to you.
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During the pandemic, I discovered jigsaw puzzle mysteries. You read the mystery, usually about 20 pages, then solve a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle, of which there is no picture to guide you. The evidence/ clues to help you solve the mystery are in the puzzle. When you think you have the answer, you hold the last page of the mystery booklet up to a mirror and read the answer. WOW what a challenge! I have done 2 of them so far. I have one more to go. I’ll save that for the winter when we are not so busy. Puzzles are a great way to relax and regroup.
Carol
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Wow, Carol! I’ve never heard of those. So cool, but it sounds really hard. Like one of those all white puzzles. I had a friend in college who liked the challenge of those and had her whole dorm room decorated with complicated puzzles she glued to a backing and hung on the walls.
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Ooh, that’s neat!
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This sounds both fabulous and terrifying!
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I play solitaire on my phone. I like it because the cards are never dealt in the same order, so the game is always different. Sometimes, I win. More often, I lose, but that’s okay. I enjoy the challenge and it’s way better than scrolling through social media!
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Me too, JC! When I’m in a waiting room, especially. I play “Vegas rules” with fake money. When I get to about negative $11,000 it hurts my feelings enough to zero it out. Basically, you buy the deck of cards for $52 and then you win $5 for every point. My dad told me that this was a big deal during the Depression—people would play at bars—and my grandpa would play at the kitchen table to see the likelihood of winning. I think he realized early on it was a game for a wealthier man.
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Ha! Love this! The only online jigsaw puzzles I’ve ever done were of Ellen’s book covers, lol. But it looks fun!
My parents always had a puzzle going, and from when I was a kid, the rule was once you dumped the pieces out onto the table, you couldn’t look at the box again to see the picture your were making.
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As you know, I still follow that no-peeking rule to this day. Signed, your puzzling little sister
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As do Robin and I!
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I’ve also only done online puzzles featuring people’s book covers!
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Jen, that first one I posted has my book covers!
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Interesting rule! Someone told me recently that their library does a community puzzle with 57,000 (!!) pieces. They leave it set up all summer and people come and work it whenever they have a few minutes. That’s a fun idea!
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This post was a blast to read, Becky! With your love for puzzling out details and anticipated joy of the final ‘click’ when all the pieces have all been arranged to make one complete picture, it’s no wonder you write mysteries.
This was absolutely delightful,
Thank you.
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Oh, Pamela, you’re so sweet!
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Ooookay…I’m just gonna slink away here. I’m fascinated by your jigsaw fascination, Becky. I wish I had something cool to add here, but I can’t do puzzles. As in, literally, I can’t fit pieces together (can’t even imagine not having a picture to go by). I also have trouble putting boxes together, even marked Tab A and Tab B. (Do they even do that anymore?) I’ve tried, believe me. I have difficulty wrapping presents, too. My family always appreciates the extreme effort to make them pretty, though. I used to think it was a patience deficiency, but now I’m afraid it’s just my brain.
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I feel your pain, Lisa. I can do puzzles, but I really only like the edges because they’re easier!
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Honestly, Lisa, this is kinda why I do them! I’m not really “spacially aware,” as my hubs so kindly puts it. I have to be in the map to read one. So I figured this might help with that clearly undeveloped part of my brain. In Jigsaw Planet sometimes people create their puzzles with shapes other than the traditional ones, and ohmygoodness, does that put me to the test. I did one and then vowed never again. That part of my brain will remain undeveloped!
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Lisa, I used to do an occasional jigsaw puzzle. But I’m so slow, I’ve given them up. I prefer and very much enjoy crosswords and all word puzzles. Jigsaws make me feel dumb.
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Vickie, that’s how I feel about riddles! How are you with maps?
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Just don’t ask me to fold one!
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It must be an inherited thing. It runs in the family.
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If I want to stretch my brain, I’ll usually do word scrambles or wordy riddles. Am awe of those who are jigsaw puzzle solvers!
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That’s funny, Jen. I have absolutely no patience for riddles. When I was a kid and it was a Riddler episode on Batman I’d be so disappointed. But between the two of us, I bet we can solve anything!
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Yes, a tag team!
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My new favorite brain-stretcher is an online game called Framed. You’re given random images from a movie and you try to guess the movie. The visual clues get progressively more obvious–which sometimes doesn’t help me at all. It’s SUPER fun and I highly recommend!
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That does sound fun … as long as I don’t have to know the title too! My memory isn’t that good. “You know … the one with the people … doing the thing … in that place …”
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You do have to know the title! I end up doing the same thing. “It’s the one with the guy with the face. You know the one…”
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My older kiddo showed me that game. Fun, but it really shows how few movies I’ve seen!
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It seems to go in phases! Some of them are from The Way-back Machine and super faves of mine–others I’ve never heard of!
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Ooh, I’ll have to look this one up, Kathy!
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I do love jigsaw puzzles, but I like the physical kind more. Though I have done puzzles on jigsaw planet before. I also like to do macrame when I’m listening to podcasts.
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And do painting projects.
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You’re so artsy! Very impressed!
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My DIL owns a toy store and I was going to ask her for a bunch of puzzles. But then I started looking around my house and I don’t really have a good place for them so I settled for the iPad. I wish I could, though. Then I could do bigger ones.
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OMG, how much do I love this post?! I use Jigsaw Planet as a way of having my newsletter readers play with my book covers. I’m afraid if I used it for myself, I’d become addicted!
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I think you might have been the one to turn me on to Jigsaw Planet, Ellen. Like you’re my drug dealer. “Psst, Becky … looky what I have here…”
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LOLOL! As anyone who knows me will tell you, I’m generally a TERRIBLE influence.
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Ha!
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Online puzzles are fun, and the Agatha Christie website has them! But I also like the tactile experience of handling actual puzzle pieces. I put mine on thick posterboard so I can carry it around with me, especially while half-watching tv.
Lately, I’ve been into cryptic crosswords. They are tough to learn – but So Very Satisfying when you figure out each clue.
What a great post and comments about things that are good for our brains and also fun!
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Agatha Christie puzzles? Yay!!
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I love Jigsaw Puzzles. I used to do one a year. Now that I am retired, I do lots more and they are all 1000 piece. I did 34 last year and have done 14 so far this year. I do them by myself. They take me about 3 hours a day for 4 or so days. My sister and niece bought me a jigsaw puzzle easel that rotates. It is fabulous. I set it up on a card table (a wedding gift to my parents in 1941) and watch Tv while working them. My best friend’s husband and his brother work about 4 a week and send them all to me. I have over a hundred to work. I better get busy. I also play Solitaire and Spider Solitaire on my kindle along with Words with Friends and Soda Crush Saga. I also find lots of time to read good cozies by all of you authors. Thank you.
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I love both the online and physical jigsaw puzzles. I’m one of those crazy people who leave the edge pieces for last. I like to look for similar colors and patterns and build the puzzle from the inside out. I like the online sites where I can search for my favorite places or stories and find puzzles. And, I do enjoy Ellen’s book covers.
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