Puzzles
10 September 2003, 2:36 PM

(First board games, then books, now puzzles. Enjoy it while it lasts because I'm probably working up to another work-related rant soon.)

I absolutely adore puzzles. Puzzles of any kind really, which is probably why I like computer games like Myst, Riven and Exile. But for now I'm talking about jigsaw puzzles - those boxed up bits of 500-1000 pieces (and cardboard shavings) of pretty alpine scenery, puppies and kittens that you see for $1 to $3 at just about any megamart. Gimme a jigsaw puzzle and I'm glued to the table for hours, even if I'm so sleepy that my eyes can barely stay open enough to see the pieces.

Of course, I have a particular way of putting together jigsaw puzzles.

First, I dump everything out onto the table and start organizing. All the "edge pieces" go in one pile while everything else is spread out and turned right-side up all over the table. I always build the outline of my puzzle first, starting with the edge pieces. I'm not sure why since, as soon as I've done the edge, I'll start ANYWHERE within the puzzle itself; I don't necessarily build from the edges in. I guess I just like having the boundary defined first.

From there I'll begin with the most distinctive part of the puzzle - the only spot that has blue or a stripe or some huge flower etc. These spots might be small or large and occasionally they will interconnect, but sometimes they just float within the rectangle of edge pieces. I just glance at my mass of scattered pieces, pick one and put it in it directly into it's place. This usually goes fairly quickly and often gets comments from other people. (Particularly from folks who'll take one piece and try it in a half dozen places before moving onto another piece.)

Once the spires of the castle, the big rock or the gabled roof-line are done, I'll start sorting the other pieces into color groups. All the greens for bushes and scenery over here, and brightly colored flowers over there. Then I'll pick a color group and further subdivide it while I start placing the pieces. Darker blue sky over here, ooh, that pieces fits there! Lighter blue sky over there, ooh, this pieces fits over here! Once I've started the sorting process, these pieces go in pretty quickly too.

When I've placed all the pieces in that I possibly can by just looking at their shading and coloring, I start placing them based on shapes rather than color. At first I just grab pieces that have fairly distinctive shapes that obviously go here or there, but eventually I'll start sorting again, this time by shape and orienting them so I can quickly compare the little knobby ends and the indentations.

All-in-all this method makes me churn through your average puzzle at a rather rapid but steady pace, making it a perfectly soothing past-time. Once I've done a puzzle though, I have no real desire to go back to it. I want a new challenge and a new picture to reveal! One of these days I'm going to have to try one of those single color type puzzles, and see how well I do with something like that.