why some people good at putting together jigsaw puzzles and others aren’t? (holiday, house)

[Robino1]

Originally Posted by jtab4994

I think puzzles are great for relaxing and are a great family activity. We put together a 3,000 piece puzzle over the summer and I bought a new one for the family for Christmas (only 1,500 this time). Ravensburger is my favorite puzzle brand.


Although as many have pointed out, the degree of enthusiasm varies within families. Our younger son (19, Psych major) only put a handful of pieces in, and our older son (22, Math major) was a driving force in getting it completed!

I love Ravensburger puzzles! That's what my 3,000 piece ones are also.

[Luckystrike1]

I just finished a 500-pc jigsaw, one that was quite hard. And I was proud of myself for not throwing in the towel. I am very ADHD, so it took me 3 weeks to finish it because I could sit and struggle with it only for so long. Got easier once I was about 2/3 done.

[919 rtp]

If you want to improve your jigsaw skills try one of the online sites. There many to choose from and sometimes you can change the number of pieces in the puzzle. Pick a puzzle that interests you, try at 25 pieces, then again with a larger number. For online puzzles, I don't like to go above 100 pieces because of screen size. I DON'T recommend this physical jigsaw puzzle, it was way too hard.

https://www.amazon.com/Buffalo-Games.../dp/B0017M1WVG

[Robino1]

Originally Posted by 919 rtp

If you want to improve your jigsaw skills try one of the online sites. There many to choose from and sometimes you can change the number of pieces in the puzzle. Pick a puzzle that interests you, try at 25 pieces, then again with a larger number. For online puzzles, I don't like to go above 100 pieces because of screen size. I DON'T recommend this physical jigsaw puzzle, it was way too hard.

https://www.amazon.com/Buffalo-Games.../dp/B0017M1WVG

Too many of the same color, almost. I always pass on that one when searching out my next puzzle.

[brava4]

Originally Posted by MinivanDriver

Brains function differently.

For example, I love crossword puzzles. Sometimes on a lazy weekend, I'll sit in my chair and polish off the NYT, LAT, and WSJ crossword puzzles one after another.

Yet if you ask me to do a Sudoku, my brain shuts down.

Yes! I get that. I love the craziest, busiest puzzles but can't even attempt a cross word puzzle or Sudoku.
Yet, I do a 6 week, 24/7 schedule for 30 people every 6 weeks without a hitch. Brains, so interesting.

[rodentraiser]

I do both crossword puzzles and Sudoku, but only fair at best. Sudoku is easier because I know there has to be a definite solution. Crossword puzzles frazzle me when they use definitions for words I think are wrong. And I hate when they use names of people I guess they think we should all know. I rarely know authors or actors. And I absolutely hate the "theme" crosswords.

Originally Posted by hunterseat

I love puzzles but haven't done one in years. Hmm... Didn't know they were online.

I'm on Jigidi and I find that works well for me.

https://www.jigidi.com/

[919 rtp]

Originally Posted by Robino1

Too many of the same color, almost. I always pass on that one when searching out my next puzzle.

It was a miserable experience and I like jigsaw puzzles. All the tiny brushstrokes with a limited number of colors. Bought at a local thrift store, tried for a week or two, gave up, donated it back to the thrift store.

[Vectoris]

Originally Posted by hertfordshire

This. Plus a generous dash of patience. I can spend 20 minutes on one piece (it’s actually sort of zen-like for me), whereas my sister gets frustrated and gives up after a minute or two.

I agree. You have to enjoy the challenge. I love the process of turning them all the right way up, and at the same time, separating the outside pieces. The next step has to be making the outline. I remember watching a friend who DID NOT DO THAT!! and it was unbearable to watch. Then I do the easy bits and then comes the real challenge. When I was young, my sister, dad and I would work on a big puzzle for weeks, whenever we had spare moments or inspiration. The enjoyment was shared when someone got through a big difficult part. Great memories.

[ciceropolo]

Varying degrees of spatial ability, spatial reasoning, detail oriented, focus, and sense of aesthetics. Personally I have to have an image I deem worthy of re assembling.


I think there are three types of jigsaw puzzles.
1) Conventional easy, an image that enables ease of color separation and reintegration from the image alone. Those with good spatial ability will put these together extremely easily and quickly.
2) Optical challenges where the image itself is difficult to differentiate so the focus becomes on identifying and separating the various style cuts of pieces which becomes the focus to assembly, and,
3) The mind benders where the jigsaw pieces have very little variation to cut types and the image has limited delineation of color and composition.


The first are the kind you can knock out in a day or an hour depending on number of pieces, the second usually lasts few days depending on piece count and the mindbenders are those which sit on a table for a few weeks and everyone who stops by has to put in a few pieces because even the spatially gifted will be slowed down due to so little variation in color and piece typology. Beware the person who steals one piece from the difficult portion of an expansive color (sky / grass etc.) palette so they can put in the last piece and it is the piece you have seeking!


I like the relaxed socialization of working a puzzle over the holidays with family or friends. Board games puzzles and cards are still a great way to enjoy that relaxed sharing and fun.

[GER308]

Mostly a matter of patience I think, I did a lot of puzzles between about 1989 and 1993 and got good at them but that was when I was doing meth. Then I got into rock climbing and quit meth, haven't done a puzzle since :-D