PUZZLED PUZZLER
So here we are at a puzzled pause; enough time to scribe about the new pandemic winter craze as I wait for a jigsaw puzzle to come knocking at my door. Three have already been done in 3 weeks, whilst the season has been weather changing. And it seems I’m not the only one in this current puzzle frenzied mania.
When cartographer John Spilsbury fixed a map to a piece of wood and sawed it up in 1766 into what has become now known as a jigsaw, he could never have imagined that the world would still be looking on their floors for missing pieces more than 250 years later.The creator of the first jigsaw puzzle – Spilsbury termed them dissections, you could walk into almost any family home in modern-day society and find at least one of his inventions on a shelf in a cupboard.
During the lockdown, there has been an unexpected upsurge in interest in jigsaws and other puzzles. From inspired depictions of “cosy” sheds to currently off-limits country pubs and taxing single colour images, We have as many nations officially been gripped by jigsaw puzzle mania.Figures in the UK alone show sales of jigsaws reached £100m in 2020, up 38% from the previous year. Covid-19 restrictions on socialising also resulted in more puzzles being bought for adults rather than children, which is not the norm, with 15m sold.
The most sought-after challenge is 1,000 pieces but, perhaps with some months
to go before Covid-19 restrictions come to an end, Ravensburger is reported to
saying demand for harder ones was increasing. Last year it launched a 40,000
piece Disney set. With the finished image measuring 6.8m by 1.9m, you would
need plenty of space to tackle it ( that would be the whole footfall of my
house floor space).
Did you know it is one of the most popular items along with toys that is one of the biggest sellers in charity shops, the top item no surprisingly is books. There are millions of dedicated volunteers who spend hours looking through our donated puzzles, checking all the pieces and condition of it packaging (but often even as I have experienced a 1000 puzzler may only have 999 pieces). When I was volunteering in a charity shop we nicked named them as ‘Serial Puzzlers’ and sadly now I believe this pandemic has turned me into one.
Puzzles offer escapism and entertainment but also educational. Much of the world’s population alone feel like it helps keep them ticking over, and not just in these craziest of unexpected and uncertain times we are living through. But if you are just getting into jigsaws you may have to wait to get your hands on the one you want, with non-essential shops presently closed, popular ones have often sold out online, a situation made worse by the decision taken by some websites based in Europe to stop shipping to the UK since Brexit.
It is predicted by some major retailers and puzzle distributors that this current puzzle boom is likely to continue until the summer at least; Where once cinemas, restaurants etc where the source of choice now with the restrictions not allowing this we are turning back more to good old fashioned self-entertainment.
And with that, I’m still waiting for the delivery courier to arrive with the new latest ‘Wasjig’. Wasgij is a whole different concept in the jigsaw world. If you haven’t worked it out by now ‘Wasgij’ is Jigsaw spelt backwards and is a range of fun jigsaw puzzles. You have to use your imagination and the clues provided to piece together a completely different picture than what you see on the front of the box. This presents a great challenge for the accomplished puzzler.
So therefore my puzzled puzzling friends old and new, I bid you the best as you and I puzzle on through this pandemic and God willing the days, months and years beyond. Good luck, O’ and if you find my missing puzzle piece could you send it back home to me. Thanks again for listening to my puzzled brain blogs, please don't forget to leave a comment or suggestion below. You have been a wonderful audience, till next time take care be saf bewell and keep puzzling.
Did you know it is one of the most popular items along with toys that is one of the biggest sellers in charity shops, the top item no surprisingly is books. There are millions of dedicated volunteers who spend hours looking through our donated puzzles, checking all the pieces and condition of it packaging (but often even as I have experienced a 1000 puzzler may only have 999 pieces). When I was volunteering in a charity shop we nicked named them as ‘Serial Puzzlers’ and sadly now I believe this pandemic has turned me into one.
Puzzles offer escapism and entertainment but also educational. Much of the world’s population alone feel like it helps keep them ticking over, and not just in these craziest of unexpected and uncertain times we are living through. But if you are just getting into jigsaws you may have to wait to get your hands on the one you want, with non-essential shops presently closed, popular ones have often sold out online, a situation made worse by the decision taken by some websites based in Europe to stop shipping to the UK since Brexit.
It is predicted by some major retailers and puzzle distributors that this current puzzle boom is likely to continue until the summer at least; Where once cinemas, restaurants etc where the source of choice now with the restrictions not allowing this we are turning back more to good old fashioned self-entertainment.
And with that, I’m still waiting for the delivery courier to arrive with the new latest ‘Wasjig’. Wasgij is a whole different concept in the jigsaw world. If you haven’t worked it out by now ‘Wasgij’ is Jigsaw spelt backwards and is a range of fun jigsaw puzzles. You have to use your imagination and the clues provided to piece together a completely different picture than what you see on the front of the box. This presents a great challenge for the accomplished puzzler.
So therefore my puzzled puzzling friends old and new, I bid you the best as you and I puzzle on through this pandemic and God willing the days, months and years beyond. Good luck, O’ and if you find my missing puzzle piece could you send it back home to me. Thanks again for listening to my puzzled brain blogs, please don't forget to leave a comment or suggestion below. You have been a wonderful audience, till next time take care be saf bewell and keep puzzling.
- Midlife Writer
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