The Ultimate Puzzle – YMIR – 16 pieces – This is the easiest solution
This is very interesting puzzle – it’s both a jigsaw and a logic puzzle. Mom purchased it at a thrift store, and we both found it very intriguing. The box says it suits all ages from 4 to 104, and it also says there are 250,000 incorrect solutions!
The Ultimate Puzzle contains 16 heavy plastic pieces that have both a smooth and a rough side; the box says they’re virtually unbreakable. This sort of puzzle is great for all ages and is great for teaching combinations, symbol recognition, manipulative skills, probabilities and critical thinking. It would be an excellent teaching tool for a classroom.
There are 16 unique pieces and the challenge is to build squares. The easiest puzzle to assemble is a square of just 4 pieces (my solution is shown above); the next level is a square 3 x 3 using 9 pieces. This is a little more difficult and took me a little more time and thought.
Mid-level solution
Next is to try to make a 4 x 4 square using all 16 pieces using both smooth and rough sides facing up. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to finish that one yet. I’m blaming the new pain medication that’s been added to my regimen. I tried for a while, but gave up when I started feeling stupid. I’ll solve it eventually, I’m determined to figure out both this and the ultimate challenge – and I’m pretty darned stubborn.
All 16 pieces
The ultimate challenge for this Ultimate Puzzle is to complete a 4 x 4 square all smooth or rough surfaces facing up. I’m sure I’ll get there someday, perhaps when I don’t have to be on pain meds daily and can think clearly. Until then, it’ll be pretty darned fun to try!
This puzzle is the second in a series of three that I’ve assembled. The artwork by Richard Welker makes for a fun and challenging assembly, and surprisingly the Ceaco quality with this series is very good. I enjoyed this puzzle very much!
As with the first puzzle in this series, the quality was very good. The pieces were thick enough with a good variety of shapes and the fit was excellent. You can barely see the piece shapes in the finished image, and you could pick up the entire completed puzzle and nothing came apart! The image reproduction is excellent, with beautiful colors and sharp lines; overall I was impressed with the good quality of this puzzle.
I almost never buy Ceaco puzzles new, but I saw Humility when I was shopping for some smaller piece count puzzles to keep me entertained while I was in bed. Even though it’s not a brand that makes my “awesome” list, I couldn’t resist the image. Mom and I enjoyed it so much that I went back looking for the others in the series and found this one. There’s one more left to find called Interconnection, and I’m on the lookout for it locally – it’s gorgeous!
If you like the look of this puzzle, I definitely recommend it. The colors and patterns are interesting and entertaining to assemble; I had a great time putting it together!
Birds (Alternate Solution) by Jane Tattersfield – Liberty Puzzles – 509 pieces
How cool is this? This is Birds, the same puzzle I posted about yesterday, and it looks amazing! On the Liberty website it shows the alternate solution to the puzzle, and I was hoping when I received the box it would at least come with a picture of the second assembly to help me put it together. No such luck – but I got it done anyway. 😎
I had to study the picture online to get started, and once I figured out how it was going to work I didn’t need the picture as much (at least for the feathers). Parts of the puzzle stayed put, and the pieces that were pulled out to form the new shape were laid next to the edges; they are connected to each other, but not to the original shape of the puzzle. Once I found the pieces that were to be flipped backwards, it wasn’t too difficult to figure out where the feathered pieces were coming from and where they were going.
I’m not sure why certain pieces were turned backwards, but I do see that the pieces near the owl’s head form the eyes and beak of the bird. It does make for any interesting image, doesn’t it? The flipped pieces also helped me find the right pieces to pull and where they were going. You’ve got to hand it to the designer of this puzzle, it’s a pretty remarkable composition. To design the pieces to make a perfect square when assembled one way, and to make a shaped bird in flight when assembled another – not to mention all the whimsies. Astounding!
Birds by Jane Tattersfield – Liberty Puzzles – 509 pieces
Birds (Alternate Solution) by Jane Tattersfield – Liberty Puzzles – 509 pieces
The bottom of the bird was more difficult than the feathers and took a little more time and thought. But with the picture as my guide and a bit of determination I was able to get it all put together. I was pretty proud of myself when I finished the regular assembly, but that was nothing compared to how excited I was when I finished the shaped assembly!
Liberty Puzzles are my favorite of all the wooden puzzle companies that I’ve tried. Their craftsmanship is exceptional, they have more whimsies than any other company, and the intricacy of their cuts is absolutely without equal. The pieces feel great in your hand, and there’s nothing like hearing them plunk into place when you’ve found the right spot. They’re not cheap, but I think they’re fairly priced (much more reasonably than many wooden puzzle companies) and completely worth it.
I bought myself this puzzle as a gift, and I’m looking forward to having another excuse to buy myself a present. Father’s Day is coming up this month, perhaps I need to get myself something. Without us moms there wouldn’t be fathers, right? 😇
Birds by Jane Tattersfield – Liberty Puzzles – 509 pieces
Stunning, gorgeous, beautiful, colorful, intricate – there are endless adjective possibilities to describe this puzzle, but I’m going with amazingly awesome! This was by far the most entertaining puzzle that I’ve assembled this year.
Liberty Puzzles are excellent quality, and they’re my favorite of all the wooden puzzle companies that I’ve tried. They have more whimsies than other companies, and the cut is extremely detailed and intricate; the pieces are works of art within the artwork! The puzzles are made from 1/4″ plywood and are a joy to handle and assemble. I’m pretty particular about the puzzles I choose to purchase new, but I would literally do ANY puzzle, ANY image from Liberty – every puzzle they have is exceptionally well made, and the cut of the pieces would make any image an entertaining assembly.
Intricate whimsies – so many birds!
As you can see the whimsy pieces are extremely detailed, they’re all hand-drawn and beautifully made. The image is reproduced with amazing color and expertly adhered to the wood. These puzzles are made to be assembled and enjoyed over and over again.
It’s definitely an extravagance to spend so much on one puzzle, but I’ve decided that I’m worth it – they make me very happy. Most of the puzzles I assemble are the regular cardboard variety, but I allow myself to splurge on a wooden puzzle now and then; I also like to give them as gifts. Mother’s Day and my 30th wedding anniversary were a day apart this year, so I decided to get myself this puzzle as a reward for having and raising 3 children, and putting up with their father for 30 years. 😉
The colors of the birds are so beautiful, and they all work together to make a gorgeous puzzle. Even up close the colors and patterns make it difficult to see the piece shapes, so it isn’t one of those wooden puzzles where the outlines of the pieces overshadow the image. That’s part of the reason I chose this puzzle, the colorful image hides the lines that are more prominent in wooden puzzles, especially with lighter colors. I don’t consider it a flaw; it doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of the assembly, it’s just the nature of a laser cut wooden puzzle.
The edge pieces definitely weren’t easy to pick out; I found some of them, but not all. I did my best to assemble some of the edge and then decided to just start working the puzzle. I started with the yellow bird, it’s the lightest and the pieces were the easiest to find. The bright green bird at the top was next, and then the two birds with speckled coloring. The big blue owl was next, and from then it was filling in and assembling each of the smaller birds and flowers. It’s not an easy puzzle by any means, but I enjoyed the challenge of it.
The best part of this puzzle (besides it’s beauty) is that there is an alternate solution, one that is even more challenging that the traditional assembly. Once I finished assembly number one I was looking forward to attempting the second solution, but came down with a virus and spent the next four days in bed with no puzzling going on at all. Yesterday I was finally recovered enough to get back to it and I conquered the second assembly. Stay tuned, tomorrow’s post will feature this same puzzle looking very, very different!
First Trip to the Beauty Shop by Norman Rockwell – Kappa Books Publishers – 500 pieces
I did it! I actually finished the worst quality puzzle I’ve ever worked with. Sometimes for some reason I can’t explain I just have to finish a puzzle even if it’s horrible to work with and frustrating as hell. This was one of the those puzzles – I have no explanation for my stubbornness, I just had to finish it!
Kappa Books Publishers mainly deal with books, and I would encourage them to stick to publishing. This puzzle was terrible quality; the pieces were the thinnest I’ve ever worked with, and the fit was absolutely horrible with pieces seeming to fit everywhere. When the pieces were “connected” properly you could just pull everything apart with very little effort – even when the entire puzzle was complete I could pull gently on both sides and it would separate. Even the box was terrible quality; you had to cut it to open it, and once you did the bottom section just fell apart. It was made of extremely thin cardboard and the corners weren’t taped or held together in any way – once I lifted the lid it all just fell open.
The only good thing about this puzzle was the image reproduction. It seemed very true to the original and was adhered well to the chipboard. I’m sorry to say those are all my positives.
This was my favorite section of the puzzle to assemble, there’s just something innocent and adorable about it. I think the image itself is part of the reason I stubbornly refused to abandon this puzzle; I just wanted to see it complete.
I wasn’t planning on completing the dark blue sections at the top and the bottom, but by the time I was finished with the image itself it seemed a shame to give up. And I knew if I separated the pieces by shape it wouldn’t be too difficult. I was right, it wasn’t that bad; and I surprised myself by not needing hubby’s help to do it. I am pretty proud of myself for finishing it!
Please, if you love jigsaw puzzles, do not buy any manufactured by Kappa Books Publishers. The quality is terrible, and you deserve better.
Details:
Title: First Trip to the Beauty Shop
Artist: Norman Rockwell
Brand: Kappa Books Publishers
Piece count: 500 pieces
Size: Approx. 18 x 11 in. (46 x 28 cm)
Purchased: Thrift store, unopened
Quality:
Board: Poor
Cutting: Fair
Image: Good
Box: Thin, flimsy, very small
Fit: Poor; extremely loose, pieces seem to fit everywhere
My Jigsaw Journal 