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Category: Puzzles

Puzzle: Above the Clouds by Ciro Marchetti

Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51cm x 68cm
Producer:  LPF Ltd., Holographic puzzle, #3921
Artist: Ciro Marchetti has had a successful graphic design career that has spanned working in Europe, South America and the US. He is a five-time recipient of the distinguished Photoshop GURU award, and three time winner of the Worldwide Photoshop Competition presented by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. The current content and style of recent illustrations directly reflect his sources of interest and inspiration, allowing him to create richly detailed images that conjure up retro- tech worlds of fantasy and imagination. [Puzzle box]

Puzzle: From the same series as City of Wands, City of Coins, and Shangri-La Winter, by Ciro Marchetti.

Notes: Within the troposphere, red, orange, and pink clouds occur almost entirely at sunrise/sunset and are the result of the scattering of sunlight by the atmosphere. When the angle between the sun and the horizon is less than 10 percent, as it is just after sunrise or just prior to sunset, sunlight becomes too red due to refraction for any colors other than those with a reddish hue to be seen. The clouds do not become that color; they are reflecting long and unscattered rays of sunlight, which are predominant at those hours. The effect is much like if one were to shine a red spotlight on a white sheet. In combination with large, mature thunderheads, this can produce blood-red clouds. Clouds look darker in the near-infrared because water absorbs solar radiation at those wavelengths.

In high latitude regions of the stratosphere, nacreous clouds occasionally found there during the polar winter tend to display quite striking displays of mother-of-pearl colorations due to the refraction and diffusion of the sun’s rays through thin ice crystal clouds that often contain compounds other than water. At still higher altitudes up in the mesospere, noctilucent clouds sometimes seen in polar regions in the summer usually appear a silvery white that can resemble brightly illuminated cirrus. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Montréal – The City Character

Size: 513 pieces
Dimensions: 54cm x 38cm
Producer: Buffalo Games, Inc., ©1991 Descartes, Inc.
Notes: “The City Character Jigsaw Puzzle: The jigsaw puzzle you are holding is one of the most unique on the market today. It is a historical perspective of a great North American city. On it you will find the landmarks, businesses, neighborhoods, and people which give this city its singular flavor and personality. This puzzle celebrates the character of the city and is both a challenging jigsaw puzzle and an unmatched souvenir. Designs are available for over thirty cities and we are addint more all the time.

City Character Jigsaw Puzzles are currently available for:

Atlanta
Austin
Baltimore
Boston
Buffalo
Chicago
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Columbus
Dallas
Dayton
Denver
Detroit
Erie
Houston
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Los ANgeles
Miami
Minneapolis
Montreal
New Orleans
New York City
Niagara Falls
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Pittsburgh
San Francisco
San Antonio
St. Louis
Toronto
Washington”

[Puzzle box]

Puzzle: Mansion and garden

Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.5cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Images series, #43670-14
Notes: A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over 740 square meters. A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and many bedrooms. Today, however, there is no formal definition beyond being a large and well-appointed house.

In the Roman Empire, a mansio was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or via, where cities sprang up, and where the villas of provincial officials came to be placed. The Scots word “manse” originally defined a property large enough for the Minister of the parish to maintain himself, but a mansion is no longer self-sustaining in this way (compare a Roman or medieval villa). ‘Manor’ comes from the same root — territorial holdings granted to a lord who would remain there — hence it can be seen how the word ‘Mansion’ came to have its meaning. [Wiki]

Puzzle: At the Fountain by Barbara Mock


Size: 1500 pieces Dimensions: 60cm x 90cm Producer: Jumbo International, Amsterdam, #00681 Artist: Barbara Mock Notes: A fountain (from the Latin “fons” or “fontis”, a source or spring) is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were originally purely functional, connected to springs or aqueducts and used to provide drinking water and water for bathing and washing to the residents of cities, towns and villages. Until the late 19th century most fountains operated by gravity, and needed a source of water higher than the fountain, such as a reservoir or aqueduct, to make the water flow or jet into the air. In addition to providing drinking water, fountains were used for decoration and to celebrate their builders. Roman fountains were decorated with bronze or stone masks of animals or heroes. In the Middle Ages, Moorish and Muslim garden designers used fountains to create miniature versions of the gardens of paradise. King Louis XIV of France used fountains in the Gardens of Versailles to illustrate his power over nature. The baroque decorative fountains of Rome in the 17th and 18th centuries marked the arrival point of restored Roman aqueducts and glorified the Popes who built them. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Magic Fire by Nadia Strelkina


Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 51cm x 68cm
Producer: Lafayette Puzzle Factory, Goldenline Fairies series, #3921
Artist: Nadia Strelkina
Painting: photo
Box: photo
Notes: Within a work of fantasy, magic can function to move the plot forward, providing both power for the hero of the story and power for those who oppose him/her. The use of magic is often transformative of the character, if not the world.

In order to carry out this function, magic often carries a price, equal to its value.

In most fantasy works, magic is either depicted as an innate talent, is acquired through studying, or is given to someone who makes a pact, usually with a devil, spirit or other sorcerer.

Sometimes, too, a place will have magic; perhaps a certain location is “close to the spirit realm” or there are residues from powerful spells once cast there, or a place is magical by nature, as in the case of an enchanted forest. One such magical place is Faerie or Elfland. Its location may not be fixed — in some cases it acts as a parallel world — but magic is both found and occurs there. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Alice in Wonderland


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 49cm x 68cm
Producer: Master Pieces, #71143
Notes: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world (Wonderland) populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre, and its narrative course and structure have been enormously influential, especially in the fantasy genre.

“How Doth the Little Crocodile” is a poem by Lewis Carroll which appears in his novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. It’s recited by Alice in Chapter 2. It describes a crafty crocodile which lures fish into its mouth with a welcoming smile.

How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws!

Puzzle: Audubon – American Robin


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 45.72cm x 45.72cm
Producer: Buffalo Games
Box: photo
Photographer: Adam Jones
Notes: The American Robin or North American Robin (Turdus migratorius) is a migratory songbird of the thrush family. It is named after the European Robin[3] because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely related, with the European robin belonging to the flycatcher family. The American Robin is widely distributed throughout North America, wintering south of Canada from Florida to central Mexico and along the Pacific Coast.

The American Robin is active mostly during the day and assembles in large flocks at night. Its diet consists of invertebrates (such as beetle grubs and caterpillars), fruits and berries. It is one of the earliest bird species to lay eggs, beginning to breed shortly after returning to its summer range from its winter range. Its nest consists of long coarse grass, twigs, paper, and feathers, and is smeared with mud and often cushioned with grass or other soft materials. It is among the first birds to sing at dawn, and its song consists of several discrete units that are repeated. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Audubon – Northern Cardinal


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 45.72cm x 45.72cm
Producer: Buffalo Games
Box: photo
Photographer: Gene Stone / Leeson Photography
Notes: The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is a North American bird in the genus Cardinalis; it is also known colloquially as the redbird or common cardinal. It can be found in southern Canada, through the eastern United States from Maine to Texas and south through Mexico. It is found in woodlands, gardens, shrublands, and swamps.

The Northern Cardinal is a mid-sized songbird with a body length of 21 centimeters (8.3 inches). It has a distinctive crest on the head and a mask on the face which is black in the male and gray in the female. The male is a vibrant red, while the female is a dull red-brown shade. The Northern Cardinal is mainly granivorous, but also feeds on insects and fruit. The male behaves territorially, marking out his territory with song. During courtship, the male feeds seed to the female beak-to-beak. A clutch of three to four eggs is laid, and two to four clutches are produced each year. It was once prized as a pet, but its sale as cage birds is now banned in the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Grand Place, Brussels, Belgium


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.6cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, Classic Treasures series, #41610-42
Notes: The Grand Place or Grote Markt About this sound listen is the central square of Brussels. It is surrounded by guildhalls, the city’s Town Hall, and the Breadhouse.

In the 10th century, Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine constructed a fort on Saint-Gery Island, the furthest inland point at which the Senne river was still navigable. This was the seed of what would become Brussels. By the end of the 11th century, an open-air marketplace was set up on a dried-up marsh near the fort that was surrounded by sandbanks. The market was called the Nedermerckt, or Lower Market.

Every two years in August, an enormous “flower carpet” is set up in the Grand Place for a few days. A million colourful begonias are set up in patterns, and the display covers a full 24 by 77 metres (79 by 253 ft), for area total of 1,800 square metres. The first flower carpet was made in 1971, and due to its popularity, the tradition continued, with the flower carpet attracting a large number of tourists. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Cholmondeley Castle


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.5cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group
Notes: Cholmondeley Castle is a country house in the civil parish of Cholmondeley, Cheshire, England. It is surrounded by a 7,500 acres estate.

In the 18th century Hugh Cholmondeley, 1st Earl of Cholmondeley had created gardens around the house, both kitchen gardens and orchards to provide food for the household, and also pleasure gardens. The pleasure gardens would have been formal in style as they were laid out by George London. The ironworker Jean Tijou produced an iron entrance gate to the gardens, but this was moved to Houghton Hall in Norfolk by the 4th Earl. John van Nost designed a fountain for the garden. The garden also contained a bowling green and an aviary. The 4th Earl brought in William Emes to redesign the garden who, according to the fashion of the day, buried London’s work under a landscape park. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Chateau Fontainebleu, France


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.6cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group, Impressions series
Notes: The Palace of Fontainebleau, located 55 kilometres from the centre of Paris, is one of the largest French royal chateaux. The palace as it is today is the work of many French monarchs, building on an early 16th century structure of Francis I. The building is arranged around a series of courtyards. The city of Fontainebleau has grown up around the remainder of the Forest of Fontainebleau, a former royal hunting park.This forest is now home to many endangered species of Europe.

The palace introduced to France the Italian Mannerist style in interior decoration and in gardens, and transformed them in the translation. The French Mannerist style of interior decoration of the 16th century is known as the “Fontainebleau style”: it combined sculpture, metalwork, painting, stucco and woodwork, and outdoors introduced the patterned garden parterre. The Fontainebleau style combined allegorical paintings in moulded plasterwork where the framing was treated as if it were leather or paper, slashed and rolled into scrolls and combined with arabesques and grotesques. Fontainebleau ideals of female beauty are Mannerist: a small neat head on a long neck, exaggeratedly long torso and limbs, small high breasts—almost a return to Late Gothic beauties. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Drakensberg Mountains


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.5cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group
Notes: The Drakensberg (“the Dragon Mountains”) is the highest mountain range in Southern Africa, rising to 3,482 metres in height. In Zulu, it is referred to as uKhahlamba (“barrier of spears”), and in Sesotho as Maluti (also spelled Maloti). Its geological history lends it a distinctive character amongst the mountain ranges of the world. Geologically, the range resembles the Simien Mountains of Ethiopia.

The mountains are capped by a layer of basalt approximately 1,400 meters thick, with sandstone lower down, resulting in a combination of steep-sided blocks and pinnacles.

The high treeless peaks of the Drakensberg (from 2,500 m upwards) have been described by the World Wildlife Fund as the Drakensberg alti-montane grasslands and woodlands ecoregion. These steep slopes are the most southerly high mountains in Africa, and being further from the equator provide cooler habitats at lower elevations than most mountain ranges on the continent. The high rainfall generates many mountain streams and rivers, including the sources of the Orange River, southern Africa’s longest, and the Tugela River. These mountains also have the world’s second-highest waterfall, the Tugela Falls (Thukela Falls), which has a total drop of 947 metres. The rivers that run from the Drakensberg are an essential resource for South Africa’s economy, providing water for the industrial provinces of Mpumalanga and Gauteng, which contains the city of Johannesburg. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Forest Floor


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26cm x 35.56cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group
Notes: A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. These plant communities cover approximately 9.4 percent of the Earth’s surface (or 30 percent of total land area), though they once covered much more (about 50 percent of total land area). Although forests are classified primarily by trees, the concept of a forest ecosystem includes additional species (such as smaller plants, fungi, bacteria, and animals) as well as physical and chemical processes such as energy flow and nutrient cycling.

A typical forest is composed of the overstory (canopy or upper tree layer) and the understory. The understory is further subdivided into the shrub layer, herb layer, and also the moss layer and soil microbes. In some complex forests, there is also a well-defined lower tree layer. Forests are central to all human life because they provide a diverse range of resources: they store carbon, aid in regulating the planetary climate, purify water and mitigate natural hazards such as floods. Forests also contain roughly 90 percent of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Easter Lily


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26cm x 35.56cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group
Notes: Lilium longiflorum, often called the Easter lily or November lily, is a plant native to the Ryukyu Islands (Japan) and Taiwan. It is a stem rooting lily, growing up to 1 m high. It bears a number of trumpet shaped, white, fragrant, and outward facing flowers.

From the 1890s to the early 1920s, there was a thriving export trade of bulbs from Bermuda to New York. A disease affected the Bermuda lilies: this was identified by Lawrence Ogilvie. Then most Easter lily bulbs arriving in the United States were imported from Japan before 1940s. The supply of bulbs was suddenly cut off after the attack on Pearl Harbor and Easter lilies became extremely valuable in the United States. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Mukilteo Lighthouse, Mukilteo, WA, U.S.A.


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben, MB Puzzles
Notes: The Mukilteo Light at Mukilteo, Washington is an operational lighthouse with non-rotating fresnel lens. It originally had a revolving Fresnel lens until 1927, when it was replaced with a fixed lens. [Wiki]

In 1792, Captain George Vancouver mapped the Puget Sound area (named after Lieutenant Peter Puget), landing on the point where the light station stands today, Captain Vancouver designated the area as Rosehill Point because of the beautiful wild roses that cover the hillsides.

The lighthouse was built in 1906.

Since 1906 there have been 18 official lighthouse keepers assigned to the Mukilteo Light Station. A plaque commemorating all but the last keeper can be found on the lighthouse wall. Due to its location and amenities, the light station was considered a choice assignment that was often given to keepers as a reward for outstanding service. The keeper and his assistant maintained a constant six hour shift rotation to keep the light operational until electricity arrived in 1927. [Mukilteo Historical Society site]

Puzzle: Boscastle, Cornwall, England


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 67.31cm x 47.9cm
Producer: Milton Bradley, FoamFit series, #50653-02
Notes: Boscastle is a village and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Forrabury and Minster. The name of the village derives from Botreaux Castle, (pronounced “But’ry”) a 12th century motte-and-bailey fortress, of which few remains survive. The castle was anciently the possession of the de Botreaux family, which became under William de Botereaux(d.1391) Barons Botreaux.

Boscastle harbour is a natural inlet protected by two stone harbour walls built in 1584 by Sir Richard Grenville (of HMS Revenge). It is the only significant harbour for 20 miles (32 km) along the coast. As well as being a fishing harbour, Boscastle was once a small port (similar to many others on the north coast of Cornwall) importing limestone and coal and exporting slate and other local produce. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Cote d’Azur, France


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.5cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group
Notes: The Cote d’Azur, often known in English as the French Riviera, is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from the Italian border in the east to Saint Tropez, Hyeres or Cassis in the west.

The French Riviera coastline covers 560 miles and consists of both sand and shingle beaches. Officially, the Cote d’Azur is home to 163 nationalities with 83,962 foreign residents, although estimates of the number of non-French nationals living in the area are often much higher. Its largest city is Nice, which has a population of 347,060 (2006).

The name was given to the coast by the writer Stephen Liegeard in his book, La Cote d’azur, published in December 1887. Liegeard was born in Dijon, in the French department of Cote-d’Or, and adapted that name by substituting the azure blue colour of the Mediterranean for the gold of Cote-d’Or. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Bristlecone Pine


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.5cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group, Impressions series
Notes: Bristlecone pines grow in isolated groves at and just below the tree line. Because of cold temperatures, dry soils, high winds, and short growing seasons, the trees grow very slowly. The wood is very dense and resinous, and thus resistant to invasion by insects, fungi, and other potential pests.

The bristlecone pine has an intrinsically low rate of reproduction and regeneration, and it is thought that under present climatic and environmental conditions the rate of regeneration may be insufficient to sustain its population.[1] The species are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list. Bristlecone pines are protected in a number of national parks such as the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California and the Great Basin National Park in Nevada, where cutting or gathering wood is prohibited.

The green pine needles give the twisted branches a bottle-brush appearance. The name bristlecone pine refers to the dark purple female cones that bear incurved prickles on their surface. These ancient trees have a fittingly gnarled and stunted appearance, especially those found at high altitudes, and have reddish-brown bark with deep fissures. As the tree ages, much of its vascular cambium layer may die. In very old specimens, often only a narrow strip of living tissue connects the roots to a handful of live branches. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Old Homestead, Indiana


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26cm x 35.56cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group
Notes: Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as in 1816. It is located in the midwestern and Great Lakes regions of North America. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis, the second largest of any state capital and largest state capital east of the Mississippi River.

Indiana is one of the most tornado-prone states in the country, ranking sixth in a list by VorTek, an Alabama company. The city of South Bend was ranked the 14th most tornado-prone city in the country, ahead of cities such as Houston and Wichita. The same company also published a list of the most tornado prone cities and states in April, with Indiana coming in first and South Bend ranking 16th. Despite its vulnerability, Indiana is not a part of tornado alley. [Wiki]

Tornado Alley is a colloquial and popular media term that most often refers to the area of the United States where tornadoes are most frequent. Although an official location is not defined, the area between the Rocky Mountains and Appalachian Mountains is usually associated with it. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Orange Pekoe


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26cm x 35.56cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, The Canadian Group
Notes: Orange pekoe (OP), also spelled “pecco”, is a term used in the Western tea trade to describe a particular genre of black teas (Orange pekoe grading). Despite a purported Chinese origin, these grading terms are typically used for teas from Sri Lanka, India and countries other than China; they are not generally known within Chinese-speaking countries. The grading system is based upon the size of processed and dried black tea leaves.

The tea industry uses the term Orange Pekoe to describe a basic, medium-grade black tea consisting of many whole tea leaves of a specific size; however, it is popular in some regions (such as North America) to use the term as a description of any generic black tea (though it is often described to the consumer as a specific variety of black tea).

When used outside the context of black-tea grading, the term “pekoe” (or, occasionally, Orange pekoe) describes the unopened terminal leaf bud (tips) in tea flushes. As such, the phrases “a bud and a leaf” or “a bud and two leaves” are used to describe the “leafiness” of a flush; they are also used interchangeably with pekoe and a leaf or pekoe and two leaves. [Wiki]