The Jigsaw Gallery

This Ravensburger puzzle, with high-quality (though slightly loose-fitting) pieces, is a montage inspired by adverts from the 1960s, showing the modern conveniences that every would-be domestic diva dreams of: washing machines, vacuum cleaners, household cleaning products and more efficient steam irons. All the women are depicted with big happy grins, as if making the perfect apple pie is the closest they will ever get to heaven on Earth.

Eureka Lake Studio — founded by former Disney designers, Kim Minichiella and Kate Ward Thacker, in 2002 — created this, and other Ravensburger puzzles. The green and red diamond patterned border was really tricky to put together because, at first glance, every piece looked exactly the same. But once Shana had done the edge, I must say I really enjoyed this puzzle and would recommend it to anyone who loves a nice bit of nostalgia.

This 1000-piece puzzle, comprising four of Cicely Mary Barker’s 1920s pictures of fairies in different seasons, may look pretty, what with all those flowers and delicate little fairy wings. But it was a nightmare trying to put it all together; every piece was almost identical in shape, and each one was oriented the same way, i.e., with its ‘prongs’ aligned on a north-south axis.

Also, there were too many fiddly little bits of petal, leaf and twig.

Maybe I’m being too harsh, though. There are no excuses really. I bottled out after completing the easiest parts, and that’s all there is to it. Luckily, Shana stepped in and finished the rest of the puzzle in about five minutes.

Shana also spotted where the artist had apparently changed the painting and moved one of the fairies over to the right. On one of the leaves at the bottom of the ‘Autumn’ section, you can see the outline of a foot. On closer inspection you can clearly tell that the foot once belonged to the fairy on the right hand side. But wait! Did Cicely Mary Barker really move the figure? Or did the fairy dance across of her own accord? Alas, we shall never know.

Who says jigsaw puzzles can’t be educational? Some puzzlers, of course, might think this pictorial potted history of Britain is a dull subject, but we disagree. It was made by the now defunct Mandolin Puzzles in 1985, so it’s not surprising that a couple of pieces had gone missing, but in a way even that added to our enjoyment, because one missing piece just happened to be in the path of the horses that are shown taking part in the ill-fated Charge of the Light Brigade. Maybe that’s what really happened: they all fell down a big hole in the fabric of the space-time continuum.

Mandolin Puzzles, with a little help from talented artist, Martin Frost, produced this puzzle only a year after Prince Harry, HRH Prince Charles’ youngest son, was born. It’s strange to see that happy family group now, when you know that the parents divorced eleven years later. Still, some things never change: the Duke of Edinburgh doesn’t look a day older, does he?

This was our first attempt at a ‘Wasgij’ puzzle. It wasn’t easy, but neither was it as hard as we’d expected. If in doubt, you should definitely try one, because the finished picture is every bit as hilarious as the clue on the front of the box — all thanks to Graham Thompson’s wonderful artwork