“Oh, Scottish tartans! That’s great — I can learn famous tartans while I puzzle.” Educational puzzling!
In retrospect, I am left with the question — Why did I even want to learn famous tartans? (I mean, I know: An over-abundance of fiction glorifying the Highlands and what-not ….)
This 1000-piece puzzle was truly difficult. One small reason was the printing of the puzzle — the photo online looks bright and distinctive, but in practice, the puzzle’s colors were darker and muddier. But it was primarily the subject matter that made it so hard — tartan after tartan after tartan, and it turns out that tartans have lots of really similar color patterns. Also, there were so many that each tartan just has a few pieces dedicated to it, so each piece may show some green and blue — and there are tons of tartans with greens and blues in them. Then, when I tried to do it by using the Scottish names … I realized that there are a lot of Scottish names beginning with Mac. Like, more than two of the rows were wholly dedicated to “Mac” names.
Recommended to do with bright lights, good vision (or eyeglasses), and a lot of patience. High difficulty bang per buck.
Trigger warning: Be prepared for every Scottish character from books and movies (and, I guess, history) to remind you of their themselves. “Beam me up, Scotty!” “I’m Connor MacLeod from the Clan MacLeod.” “… colonized by wankers” … and so on. And, the inevitable thoughts of colonialism, nationalism, modern day politics, independence movements, and so on.
Also, you may be tempted to design your own family tartan and/or crest afterwards, and there are many online sites for that. If you go full-out, you can even register your own family tartan — https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/index .
Finished: March 20, 2023
Thank you for this review. I will take this puzzle off my to-do list. I hope the puzzle maker does not sue you for defamation.
Ps—can you post a photo of your masterpiece?
As you requested, MMM, I have added photos of my (torturous) progress.