The History Of Jigsaw Puzzles, Assembled

Publish date: 2024-05-06

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2022 saw another craze in jigsaw puzzles, according to NPR News, as people stuck at home due to quarantine, or being unemployed, turned to something that could be done indoors to pass the time. Meanwhile, the puzzle manufacturing industry is itself changing, as niche manufacturers try to produce puzzles that push the boundaries of what dissectologists think of when they plan to do a puzzle. For example, manufacturer Nervous System uses a computer simulation to create images of geodes, or galaxies, or just random shapes, and then cuts them into pieces that bear little resemblance to the soft, rounded holes of most mass-produced jigsaw puzzle. Similarly, manufacturer Yelldesign produces jigsaw puzzles not on wood or cardboard, but on acrylic. And of course, with the advent of 3-D printing, it's possible for anyone who owns a 3-D printing machine to produce their own jigsaw puzzles. Files for such puzzles are readily available online.

When all else fails, there's the adage "Go big or go home." If you have $600 to spare, several hundred hours with absolutely nothing to do, and a work space the size of a small bedroom, you can purchase a collection of Disney scenes cut up into 40,320 pieces from Ravensburger.

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