….how a box of small cardboard pieces can provide hours of entertainment and satisfaction.  Who would have thought?  Who, in fact, invented the whole concept of cardboard jig-saw puzzles, a cheap, mesmerizing and yet soothing way to pass time, together or alone?

 We’re relatively new to puzzles as a family, more my hobby than anyone else’s, but over the last years, the boys and many friends and relatives have “stopped by” to put in a few pieces of a going puzzle spread out on the table.  We came to it initially though my mom, Mimi, when she was recovering from a major surgery and was somewhat housebound.  I can “picture” the first of the puzzle we worked on, a Victorian sea-shore, all blues and whites, with the challenge of the water’s reflection. I can also recall the deep pride and satisfaction we felt in completing it – the first of many 300-piece EZ Grasp puzzles that Mom needs to be able to handle the pieces. Turns out she’s not alone: there’s a virtual boom in the large-piece puzzle: good for young hands, and old; can be done in a sitting or two; bold, fun images, rather than the classic sunset over mountains scenes. The extra perk of puzzles is that a good one can be handed on, and on, as long as the pieces don’t go missing.

 Partly, for us, it’s the association with holidays or vacation, a period of at least a few days of having some down time. This is partly due to making table space available, and partly to provide an activity, something to do while visiting, or to occupy the kids for a while. Often times, the kids are not enthusiastic initially, but once hooked, can be as obsessed as we adults. At a family reunion at Cape May, there was a danger of two teen girls being bored out of their minds, aside from the beach, but they got started on puzzle of the Amalfi coastline, and we didn’t see them for hours. Afterwards, naturally, it was left on display for all to admire.

The variables: size, color, shape, the actual picture being represented.  The straight lines of the border pieces may help to get the puzzle started – or, they may be so uniform in color, so as to be a challenge themselves.  The challenges: the many shades of color; the large areas of abstract shape; i.e., water or sky; repetition of elements in the puzzle; the tricks of light, shadow and water, to give double images; the distortion of the small picture on the box translated to the larger image on the table; the similarity of puzzle pieces, and the challenge of placement – rotating into the right spot.  Working with a group, we are around the table, sometimes working from the side, not a straight on. The techniques: sorting by color, section, or by the outside edges. Some puzzlers are more methodical, and others like most of us at home, more random, whatever catches the eye.  

 The puzzle rewards: the picture itself, of course, can be a piece of art, a famous painting, or just a cleverly arranged design.  The reward of completion; finality, returning the chaotic pieces to the ordered whole (this is dissipated by the absence of even one, especially one, puzzle piece, no matter how small).  There is the reward of concentration and participation, like any game. It’s essentially collaborative, and yet, within the time period, there can be a kind of competition of who can place pieces the fastest.  Most of all, for me, there is “the turning point”, where the intuitive mind takes over the rational mind, and the pieces start to fall into place.  I ask myself in wonder, how did I know it had to go there?  There is a kind of calculation taking place that I am aware of but cannot name the steps.  Puzzles show me how the brain, challenged but unafraid, works its kind of magic to solve problems quickly and efficiently, far beyond any planning or willpower on my part.