I really loved Artifact‘s contribution to the Puzzle Parley 2024 — the speed puzzle, Louis Wain’s “Fiddling Cat“. So I picked it up, and Ash and I did it, speed-style (that is, with a timer) and I feel pretty good about our time! Which to be clear was more than double the time that the speed champion puzzlers (Karen Puzzles plus a team including Kayla B. and Richard P.) did — but we were two, so compared to a three-person time, it seemed respectable! Ash and I did quite well, but stumbled on the wallpaper, and then it did take us a little while to figure out how to stack the vertical stacked pieces. (We had a couple of different possible arrangements before finally figuring out the correct fit.)
Importantly, it also caused us to do a little google-researching about Louis Wain, with whom I was slightly familiar because Victorian illustrator + cats, two of my things. (Two of everyone’s things, it seems!) I had not realized Benedict Cumberbatch did a movie about Louis Wain (“The Electric Life of Louis Wain”), which is now on my list to watch. And I learned quite a bit more about Louis Wain — fascinating.
Puzzle design was by Marcelle Jay Iremedio, I think my first by her? And was delightful. So many adorable cat (and cat-related) whimsies! Definitely a keeper for us.
Also, the laser-cutting seems better — there were some light horizontal singe marks, but nothing along the edges of the pieces, and overall, very clean! High quality like all Artifact puzzles.
Artifact describes the puzzle thusly:
This 156 piece wooden jigsaw puzzle is a fun, colorful, comical vintage cat illustration from early 20th century by famous cat artist Louis Wain (played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the 2021 movie dramatization about Wain’s life, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain). This puzzle is from our Ecru line, which means it has a matte image for reduced glare. The puzzle is average hard for its piece count, with cat-themed whimsy pieces and an irregular edge. The irregular edge is NOT shown in the box picture.
156-pieces, 7.5″ x 10.5″ — July 2024.
