Puzzle Musings

Every single piece in a 1000 piece jigsaw is important in the overall scheme of things. Missing just one piece compromises the whole experience. That's why we go to such lengths to ensure that every sealed bag has all of its pieces. That's why we recommend that you think twice about running the vacuum cleaner until every piece is in place; that you keep an eye on your brother, especially if he's the competitive sort; and that you NEVER EVER let your pets help. (We're not naming names, but we know from experience what sticky paws, static electricity, manic curiosity...

       Why You Need to Finish Your Puzzles"It was, I believe, my introduction to the scientific process. With each piece, I’d reason: if not here, then here, and if not here, then here, and…so on. Puzzles forced me to look again, and again, and possibly again because each piece---no matter how small or seemingly insignificant---was critical to the whole."From: When Crickets Cry by Charles Marlin(Good book, by the way. I got it from the library.)

Who knew? It turns out that college age people like doing jigsaw puzzles too. Some Hennessy Puzzles found their way recently to Isla Vista, California, the college town near the University of California at Santa Barbara, where they apparently caused a bout of binge puzzling. Leave it to college students to get carried away. A crowd soon formed around the first puzzle out of the box; by 3 a.m., the puzzle was done. A couple of our puzzles have also been getting lots of attention in the library of a local law school. Students taking much-needed breaks from their intensive...

As in most things of any importance, there's no right answer to this one. It's safe to assume that customers who buy 1000 piece puzzles want a challenge, otherwise they'd buy a poster. That said, people have different amounts of tolerance for difficult puzzles. To the degree possible we strive to publish puzzles where every single piece has clues to what part of the puzzle it belongs, not just the border pieces their flat sides. We think bright colors and random, hand drawn shapes add to the fun. We like challenges...figuring out what part of the giraffe a piece fits...

HENNESSY PUZZLE PIECESHere are some of ours. Notice the odd shapes. When we were kids we used to call them sqwiggles. Machines prefer regular patterns. Lots of puzzlers prefer regular patterns too. (See below.) Sometimes random patterns make puzzles more challenging. If we didn't like challenge we would be making posters, not 1000 piece puzzles.OTHER COMPANY'S PUZZLE PIECESSee how these pieces fit pretty well in a grid. Every piece has some variation on a square with indents and outdents (made up word). Not a bad choice, just different. CommentsLeave a Reply