I Might Be a Puzzle Person

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been working on a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle.

I never thought of myself as a puzzle person, so this is unusual for me. How did I get here?

I blame work.

In the office, we have a square table surrounded on two sides by booth-like seats. One of our staff members brought in a puzzle and plopped it on the table for everyone to do in October or November. It didn’t have many pieces and was put together quickly. I didn’t pay much attention to it because I didn’t think of myself as a puzzle person.

And then someone brought in another puzzle, a 1000-piecer with a complex image of snacks from my youth.

After the edges had been assembled and the interior pieces were started, I began checking on the progress each morning when I came in. I’m one of the earliest people in the office, sometimes being the first, so pretty soon I found myself trying to add pieces while I waited for my computer to boot up.

The puzzle was progressing at a steady pace and I was enjoying contributing to its completion. There were maybe 250-300 pieces left when a couple staff members decided to finish it off in one sitting.

I was surprised at how disappointed I was that it was done.

I decided I needed to buy a puzzle *immediately* that I could work on. I went online to see what I could find for jigsaw puzzles. Of course, there were a million results from Amazon. Erik and I have been making a concerted effort to buy from retailers other than Amazon because Jeff Bezos doesn’t need all of our money.

I found a bunch of lovely puzzles on Barnes & Noble’s website (including that snack puzzle at work) and saved a bunch in my account for later. I also saw that Walmart carries puzzles. (Not that the Walton family needs our money, either, but we have already severely reduced what we buy from Walmart, so I don’t feel as bad about shopping there occasionally.)

Erik and I popped into Walmart in the evening the day after the work puzzle was finished. (See what I mean about wanting a puzzle immediately?) Having not shopped for jigsaw puzzles, I was surprised to find a large section of them, arranged by number of pieces, along a side wall in the toy section.

I took some time looking through them because they were arranged with the sides of the boxes facing out, rather than the image on the front, which is a clever way to maximize space for more puzzles. In the end, I chose the one in the photo above. It was in a cylindrical carton (like an oatmeal container) rather than a flat box. I chose a 500-piece puzzle because I thought it would be challenging without being as overwhelming as a 1000-piece puzzle.

I got started on it the following evening, putting together the edge pieces on our large, round coffee table. That was a mistake. Neither leaning over the table or sitting on the floor were comfortable for working on the puzzle, so last night I moved what I had assembled over to my sewing table. (A small cutting mat helped me move it in sections.)

As I’ve been working on the puzzle, a few memories of puzzles have arisen. One is that my Grandma Florence used to use the two halves of a puzzle box to sort out the pieces, making it easier to keep everything organized and contained. Because I purchased a puzzle in a cylinder, the container isn’t conducive to this, so I found a couple of box lids in the house I could use.

With this memory of the box lids, it dawned on me that my Grandma Florence often had a jigsaw puzzle going on a card table in the living room. I don’t remember helping her with them, just that there would be one in mid-assembly, which makes me wonder when she started doing puzzles.

I also remember a puzzle I was given, probably for Christmas one year in high school. It was one with a variety of meats and cheeses. While I no longer have the pieces, I still have the box.

 

The name of the puzzle was “Deli Fare”. It reminds me of the recent trend toward charcuterie boards and having deli meats, cheeses, and fancy bread for supper.

I vaguely remember putting this puzzle together but don’t know what happened to the pieces. I wonder if some of them got lost and I tossed the rest. (I recently learned that standard puzzle pieces are recyclable and can be added to your cardboard recycling, which is cool.) I use the box to store memorabilia from high school and college.

The puzzle at work apparently unlocked my latent jigsaw puzzle interest. So, I guess – surprise! – I am a puzzle person.

At the rate the 500-piece puzzle is going, I’ll be done with it soon. I’ve already scoped out the selection of puzzles at my local Barnes & Noble and have my eye on one with butterflies. That will have to wait until after I complete another sewing project. (A girl’s gotta have priorities!)

How about you? Are you a puzzle person? If so, what kind of puzzles are your favorite?

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