On Jigsaw Puzzles

When I have the time and space, I do a lot of jigsaw puzzles. This is usually when I’m at my family’s house during vacations, where it has the added benefit of getting me to leave my room for at least a few hours on most days. I am of the opinion that it is one of the most stimulating activities for a human being: there’s visual and tactile aspects, pattern recognition, and it’s an excellent opportunity to put on music, TV or a movie, or a podcast in the background for auditory input as well. It also partially scratches the itch of creative hobbies without requiring as much motivation to make progress. Here I summarize what I look for in a good puzzle.

For clarity’s sake before I begin, here is an outline of my jigsaw puzzle process:

1. Separate edges from non-edges.

2. Assemble edges.

3. Identify some number of areas in the puzzle that consist of easily recognizable patterns or colors and collect the pieces of each.

4. Assemble the pieces of each chunk and place at approximate location within the frame of the edges, if unable to connect directly to edges. Utilize the box as a reference whenever needed. (A print of the puzzle design unobscured by the label, when included, is even better.)

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with progressively smaller and/or harder-to-recognize pattern chunks, connecting as you go. (Why start with the easiest chunks instead of saving them for delayed satisfaction? Well, the number of possible permutations decreases with each piece placed, so starting with easier chunks actually makes the hard chunks easier and the entire process more efficient.)

6. Once you are left with pieces the chunk of which is indeterminate (hopefully near completion), sort by shape and use this as your main guide to fill remaining gaps.

7. Tap down all pieces that aren’t completely level and admire your finished puzzle.

(Optional) 8: If you have the space, immediately start from the beginning with a new puzzle.

Now without further ado, I present my criteria for an ideal puzzle.

At least 500 pieces. This may be the bias of a puzzle enthusiast, but a puzzle that can be comfortably completed in a single afternoon just isn’t worth it, and any puzzle below 500 pieces that can’t be completed in a single afternoon surely has a gimmick that will make it take a month if it takes a day. Gimmick puzzles are likewise not worth it; they’ll usually just make you feel like a mindless algorithm, which no one enjoys. Well, there are probably people who do enjoy it, but they know who they are and don’t need me to tell them about the best way to do jigsaw puzzles.

Multiple different patterned areas. This is likely obvious from my procedure, but I rely on patterns to orient my efforts with a puzzle. However, ‘pattern’ isn’t limited in this case to, say, checkers, or polka dots; it can be windows on a building, folds in cloth, wood grain, seafoam, or the luster of glass, to name a few. Even variation in color profile can serve to define an area. Any aspect of a part of the image that defines it but is also of the right scale to be identifiable on individual pieces is sufficient. Because of this, I am often drawn to photographic collages, which contain many patterns at a high level of fidelity, without the conflation any particular art style adds.

Some, but few, areas requiring brute force. In this case, the term ‘brute force’ is a reference to the codebreaking method, in which all possible keys are tested one after the other, not any act of physically forcing puzzle pieces together. This applies to areas for which neither the pattern of the pieces themselves nor using the box as a guide can assist in assembly, such as cloudless sky or jumbled distant foliage. An area or two that require brute-force trying each possible piece in each space are extremely rewarding to complete, but if they take up too much of the puzzle, it becomes tedious. Regular piece shapes. This might seem counter-intuitive; surely unusual piece shapes would make a puzzle easier, not harder. However, focusing too much on piece shape while most of the puzzle is unfinished (before Step 6 in my above procedure) can be a distraction and even sometimes deceptive. It’s easier to achieve a rhythm when piece shapes have relatively little variation. Also, some complicated shapes can be vulnerable to breaking off small fragments which, once separated, make it harder for pieces to hang together and are easily lost.

An aesthetically pleasing design. Last but certainly not least, before I spend hours putting together a puzzle, I want to know the end product will look nice; there’s nothing more to this criterion.

Thank you for reading this rather self-indulgent digression on jigsaw puzzles; I hope, if you’ve come this far, you found something of interest.