jigsaw piece design:
- whimsies / figurals – puzzle pieces figured into animals, people, objects; common in wooden puzzles
- multi-piece whimsy
- anti-whimsy piece – per Artifact, the pieces that fit to the whimsies … but aren’t themselves whimsies. There must be a better term …
- contour or color line cut – puzzle pieces cut along the lines of objects in the image.
- tesselations – repeating shapes
- drop-outs – blank spaces in the design of wooden puzzles
- types of connectors
- knob connectors – the basic innie / outie, although there are variations
- earlet connectors – which I call butt connectors
- identical / non-unique connectors – all the connectors are the same, and all pieces could fit together, so you have to use visual cues to find the right fit
- types of edges
- irregular edge
- decorative edge
- straight edge
- V-shaped edge piece – just a corner hits the edge
- split corner piece – a corner piece that is split in two, so you can’t tell from looking at it that it is at the corner
- connecting style
- interlocking – the traditional interlocked (with innie/outie) pieces
- connectorless or push-fit – no connectors, or minimal, non-interlocking connectors; all pieces have smooth edges
- snuggle fit – lots of drop-outs; the fit is made from segments or corners of pieces that snuggle against other segments or corners of pieces.
- cluster – Like a snuggle fit, but without drop-outs; may be tesselations — very similar or same-shaped pieces with visual or engraving variations — or just a cluster of different figural pieces. Similar fit seen in thick, vertical stacking versions.
- types of puzzle
- cardboard
- wooden
- 3d
- two-sided
- multi-layer
- shaped puzzle
jigsaw cutting methods:
- die cut – a metal die on cardboard sheets
- laser cut
- hand-cut
- scroll saw
- random cut versus ribbon cut:
- random cut – irregular shapes, possibly non-interlocking
- ribbon / strip / grid cut – lines and rows; pieces form a grid or at least a ribbon
Finishes: gloss, matt, linen
Materials: Cardboard, wood, metal, acrylic
History:
- dissected maps – the original term for jigsaw puzzles, which were developed as a means to teach geography (cartographer John Spilsbury, 1760)
- mystery puzzle – Puzzles without images.