Year: 2024
Wentworth minis
Ash and I did three Wentworth mini puzzles today — I would say, “Starry Night” was the easiest, with the Helix Nebula in the middle, and the “fractal geometry” was the hardest — with several identical pieces, eight each of a sort of triangular triskelion (maybe there is a better word for that) rotated counterclockwise, […]
Barred Owl, Adolfo Valle, Lighthouse Puzzles
Enjoyed this Lighthouse Puzzles mini-puzzle, which was sent to me free in hopes I would review it. The artist, Adolfo Valle, is Michigan-based, as is Lighthouse. (While I love lighthouses, does Michigan … have them? I know there are lots of lakes including Lake Michigan, and yes, the Great Lakes are big enough for tides, […]
Stack Attack, Rebel Puzzles
“Stack Attack” is the second puzzle Ash and I did from Rebel Puzzles, and we enjoyed this one, too! It was … definitely challenging, with its abstract and vaguely midcentury style graphics. But once we got into the swing of it, we were able to finish it off in a reasonable time! (Like, an hour […]
Stave, A Lasting Impression
In a recent pack from Hoefnagel, I had two fun hand-cut puzzles — one from Carol Ottenberg (aka Ledgewood Puzzles), and this one from Stave. Both were delightful. It was a fun & thematically connected pack, because Carol’s puzzle was a Monet image, and this one was … inspired by? depicting? well, at least referencing […]
Monet’s Poppy Fields, cut by Carol Ottenberg
In a recent pack from Hoefnagel, I had two fun hand-cut puzzles — one from Stave, and this one from Carol Ottenberg (aka Ledgewood Puzzles), who I was happy to meet at Puzzle Parley 2024. Look at those fabulous whimsies — hand-cut! The image is cited as Claude Monet’s “Poppy Fields at Vetheuil” (1879), and […]
Geode, Nervous Systems
A fun blue geode puzzle from NERVOUS Systems, via Hoefnagel. Another reviewer described this puzzle as easy, a review at which Ash and I looked askance, but, once we got going, it was — well, not “easy”, but very doable. (Much easier, at any rate, than the Wongo elephant it was paired with!) Bastet anointed […]
Elephant, Wongo
I wanted to like this elephant by Wongo puzzles (courtesy of Hoefnagel) — I liked the image, all the fun patterns, and of course, ELEPHANT. But it was so fiddly — some of the pieces were really, super tiny. It took Ash and me several hours, together, and we had to drag in a third […]
Happily Ever Aftering, David Galchutt, Elms
Really lovely hand-cut puzzle via Hoefnagel, cut by “Lisa” at Elms. “Happily Ever Aftering”, by David Galchutt. Gosh, this was beautiful and fun to do.
Pixel Peaks by Julie Amlin, Puzzle Lab
We did another fun Puzzle Lab puzzle today — “Pixel Peaks“, with art by Julie Amlin (the original artwork is called “Above the Blue”, but it was renamed for the puzzle ….). The whole family, plus Cass, worked on it. Puzzle Lab says: Sometimes, waters are turbulent. But there’s always a safe shoreline and a […]
Rackham’s Forest Nymphs, FoxSmartBox
Arthur Rackham is one of my favorite Victorian children’s illustrators, so I was happy to pick up “Forest Nymphs” from FoxSmartBox. FoxSmartBox calls this image “Forest Nymphs”, but I’ve seen it more commonly labeled “Wood Nymphs” — for instance, at the NYPL digital collection, in an illustration of John Milton’s Comus (1634), published in 1921. […]
3 Cat Max dragonfly, Vicky!
Vicky & Michele did a 3 Cat Max dragonfly. … finished the tail off a little later.
Purple Pulse, Anthology
After the fun orange puzzle, I knocked off a purple mini-puzzle from Anthology — “Purple Pulse“, art by Lori Anne McKague.
Tangerine Tapestry, Artistry
This image looks really cool & quite distinct — in a small size. But in the large size of the actual puzzle, there was a lot more muddiness & difficulty seeing things. It wasn’t pixellated, but it was a lot harder to see things — however, it all did come together ultimately. Also, I noted […]
Moonlit Serenade, Fathom Puzzles
“Moonlit Serenade” — another amazing puzzle from Fathom Puzzles in Vermont — this one a complex, shaped wolf-themed puzzle, with cut-outs and some non-unique connections, requiring very careful attention to the grey-scale patterning — and a few times I flipped pieces over to verify a match based on the wood grain. I really loved the […]
Poohsticks, by Iwona Lifsches, from Artifact
“Poohsticks” (image by Iwona Lifsches, cut design by Ashley Boyd, puzzle by Artifact) was the second in a Hoefnagel pack (with a BCB puzzle) that I knocked off while recovering from a bug. This one was interesting — the majority of the pieces had one of three standard interlocking shapes, a tulip, a fish fin, […]
Miko’s Jazz Frog Choir, cut by BCB
I have loved all the BCB (Brookie Biglands) puzzles I’ve done, and this one is no exception. The cutting is so lovely & well-fitting, the puzzle hangs together vertically by one hand, and the image (by “Miko“) was cute. This was one of a Hoefnagel pack, and I did both of them on Sunday, recovering […]
Harvest Island by Cinyee Chiu, Hellofish
Thanks, Hoefnagel! This HelloFish (Taiwanese laser cutter) puzzle, “Harvest Island“, by Cinyee Chiu, was a fast assembly. I particularly liked the tree whimsies — visible at the bottom of the puzzle. 200 pieces, 23cm x 23cm, “easy”. This about the artist: Cinyee Chiu, a Taiwanese illustrator living in the United States. She values the unique […]
Rhode Island fishes, Hope Puzzles
I really enjoyed this fish-shaped puzzle from Hope Puzzles in Rhode Island — the “Fish of Rhode Island” puzzle. Fish shaped, fish images, fish whimsies … truly fishy. Thanks, Hoefnagel! It had one of my most favorite etched whimsies ever — the manta ray (or skate? hmm) with the spots. Etchings are not usually my […]
Diego Rivera Detroit Industry, Nautilus
Hello to my friend Art Keene! Who lent me this beautiful wood puzzle version of Diego Rivera‘s “Detroit Industry” (actually, one of Rivera’s numerous Detroit Industry murals). Hard! And already the cats have tipped it over. Well, one cat — Bastet — and also, it was my fault for putting it in a tippable place. […]
Chris Yates Baffler 4949, Warp and Woof, Orange
August 4 – Hard! We started to make some progress but there’s a lot to go. August 7 – Finished! Chris Yates’ posts on flickr (or was it instagram?) about this puzzle — indispensable, honestly.
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