Home Archive by category "Puzzles" (Page 20)

Category: Puzzles

Puzzle: Purple Sea


Size: 1000 pieces
Producer: Golden, Royale
Notes: A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, the term refers to a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean. It is also used sometimes to describe a large saline lake that lacks a natural outlet, such as the Caspian Sea.

Sunset or sundown is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon in the west as a result of Earth’s rotation. The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment the trailing edge of the Sun’s disk disappears below the horizon in the west. The ray path of light from the setting Sun is highly distorted near the horizon because of atmospheric refraction, making sunset appear to occur when the Sun’s disk is already about one diameter below the horizon. Sunset is distinct from dusk, which is the moment at which darkness falls, which occurs when the Sun is approximately eighteen degrees below the horizon. The period between sunset and dusk is called twilight. [Wiki]

Puzzle: London Street Scene


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 35 cm x 48 cm
Producer: Handley Printers Ltd., SK6 1BR, Made in England, jr Deluxe, The Edwardian Collection
Notes: London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who called it Londinium. London’s ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its square-mile medieval boundaries.

London’s buildings are too diverse to be characterised by any particular architectural style, and have been built over a long period of time. Many grand houses and public buildings, such as the National Gallery, are constructed from Portland stone. Some areas of the city, particularly those just west of the centre, are characterised by white stucco or whitewashed buildings. Few structures pre-date the Great Fire of 1666, except for a few trace Roman remains, the Tower of London and a few scattered Tudor survivors in the City. One notable building that remains from the Tudor period is Hampton Court Palace, which is England’s oldest surviving Tudor palace, built by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey circa 1515. Wren’s late 17th century churches and the financial institutions of the 18th and 19th centuries such as the Royal Exchange and the Bank of England, to the early 20th century Old Bailey and the 1960s Barbican Estate form part of the varied architectural heritage. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Eggplant Scene


Size: 1000 pieces
Notes: I do not have a record of the producer of the puzzle as I do not have the box anymore. A clarification is welcome – if you have any clue as to the details regarding this puzzle, I would much appreciate that information.

The eggplant, aubergine, melongene, brinjal, or guinea squash (Solanum melongena) is a plant of the family Solanaceae (also known as the nightshades) and genus Solanum. It bears a fruit of the same name, commonly used in cooking. As a nightshade, it is closely related to the tomato and potato and is native to India.

The fruit is botanically classified as a berry, and contains numerous small, soft seeds, which are edible, but are bitter because they contain nicotinoid alkaloids, unsurprising as it is a close relative of tobacco.

The first known written record of the plant is found in Qi min yao shu, an ancient Chinese agricultural treatise completed in 544. The numerous Arabic  and North African names for it, along with the lack of the ancient Greek and Roman names, indicate it was introduced throughout the Mediterranean area by the Arabs in the early Middle Ages. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Computers: The Inside Story


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 60.96 cm x 76.2 cm
Producer: Springbok
Notes: Computers: The Inside Story

Don’t let a little ol’ computer scare you —
The way it works is simple as can be,
With byte-by-byte instructions to prepare you,
You’ll have its number quick as one-two-three!
Of course, you’ve got to get the problem stated
In just the proper language, so to speak,
Make sure that all your data are updated,
And use the latest technical technique,
Be perfectly precise in your instructions,
Look sharp at all your logs and loops and loads,
Keep everything conductive to conductions
And always mind your matrices and modes,
Now don’t forget to digitize your digits
And binarize your binaries to boot,
(‘Cause if you don’t, computers get the fidgets
Resulting in a failure to compute).
Be certain your parameters are noted,
And nothing in your system’s out of sync,
Take care your reads (that’s -in and -out) are toted —
You’re getting with the program now, I think!
In fact, if factors all are synergetic,
And you just follow these few basic tips,
You’ll find in any matter cybernetic
You’re guaranteed of staying in the chips!
— Karen Ravn [Puzzle box]

Puzzle: Dairy Farm, Wisconsin


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26 cm x 35.56 cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Images
Artist: Dennis Hallinan
Notes: Dairy farming is a class of agricultural, or an animal husbandry, enterprise, for long-term production of milk, usually from dairy cows but also from goats and sheep, which may be either processed on-site or transported to a dairy factory for processing and eventual retail sale.

Most dairy farms sell the male calves born by their cows, usually for veal production, or breeding depending on quality of the bull calf, rather than raising non-milk-producing stock. Many dairy farms also grow their own feed, typically including corn, alfalfa, and hay. This is fed directly to the cows, or is stored as silage for use during the winter season. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Old Postcards, Lusitania


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 69.85cm x 54.61cm
Producer: Guild Puzzle
Notes: A postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope.

In some places, it is possible to send them for a lower fee than for a letter. Stamp collectors distinguish between postcards (which require a stamp) and postal cards (which have the postage pre-printed on them). While a postcard is usually printed by a private company, individual or organization, a postal card is issued by the relevant postal authority.

Cards with messages had been sporadically created and posted by individuals since the creation of postal services. The earliest known picture postcard was a hand-painted design on card, posted in London to the writer Theodore Hook in 1840 bearing a penny black  stamp. He probably created and posted the card to himself as a practical joke on the postal service, since the image is a caricature of workers in the post office. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Michelangelo – La Volta Della Cappella Sistina


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 48 cm x 67.5 cm
Producer: Edizioni Musei Vaticani, Art Collection series
Notes: The Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City: Michelangelo took on the painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling when he was in his thirties and worked at the task virtually alone with great determination between 1508 and 1512. The nine central panels hold the stories of Genesis from Creation and Original Sin to the rebirth of humankind after the Flood. Five Sibyls and seven Prophets sit in the spaces between the webs, announcing the coming of Christ the Saviour from the depths of the centuries. The webs and lunettes hold the forefathers of Christ, while Michelangelo depicted episodes from the Old Testament in the four corner pendentives referring to the salvific interventions of God in defence of the chosen people. On the 1st November 1512 Julius II inaugurated the “new” Sistine Chapel with the celebration of a High Mass. [Puzzle box]

Puzzle: Paddle Boat Landing by Susan Brabeau


Size: 500 pieces, 2 missing
Dimensions: 45.72cm x 60.96cm
Producer: Collectible Puzzle (?), The Art of Susan Brabeau series
Artist: Susan Brabeau – The imagery of Susan Brabeau appeals to the viewer on several levels: bringing forth moods and sentiments of a by gone era, creating an illusion of life so completely that the viewer can almost hear the sounds within an image.

As with all good story-telling art, the imagery of Susan Brabeau is meant to be felt as well as seen. [The Art of Susan Brabeau]
Notes: A paddle steamer is a steamship or boat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans.

The paddle wheel is a large wheel, built on a steel framework, upon the outer edge of which are fitted numerous paddle blades (called floats or buckets). The bottom quarter or so of the wheel travels underwater. Rotation of the paddle wheel produces thrust, forward or backward as required. More advanced paddle wheel designs have featured feathering  methods that keep each paddle blade oriented closer to vertical while it is in the water; this increases efficiency. The upper part of a paddle wheel is normally enclosed in a paddlebox to minimise splashing. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Antique Antics by Jan van Haasteren


Size: 350 pieces
Dimensions: 41.5cm x 30cm
Producer:  WHSMITH, Exclusive Collection, #80610
Artist: Jan van Haasteren – Jan van Haasteren is a comic artist who creates very crowded, comical puzzles that are very silly and enjoyable for any puzzler. He has been creating these hilarious, beloved and highly demanded cartoon jigsaw puzzles for almost 30 years. Every cartoon he creates features a hidden shark fin, can you find it?! [Puzzle Warehouse]
Link: All puzzles by Jan van Haasteren ever made.
Notes: an·tique, adj.
1. Belonging to, made in, or typical of an earlier period.
2. Of or belonging to ancient times, especially of, from, or characteristic of ancient Greece or Rome.
3. Of or dealing in antiques.
4. Old-fashioned.

antics, pl n
absurd or grotesque acts or postures
[The Free Dictionary]

Puzzle: Tea Time by Barbara Mock


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 45.72cm x 60.96cm
Producer:  Karmin International
Painting: photo
Artist: Barbara Mock
Notes: Afternoon tea traditionally known as low tea, is a light meal snack typically eaten between 2pm and 5pm. The custom of drinking tea originated in England when Catherine of Braganca married Charles II in 1661 and brought the practice of drinking tea in the afternoon with her from Portugal. Various places that belonged to the former British Empire also have such a meal.

Traditionally, loose tea is brewed in a teapot and served in teacups with milk and sugar. This is accompanied by sandwiches (customarily cucumber, egg and cress, fish paste, ham, and smoked salmon), scones (with clotted cream and jam) and usually cakes and pastries (such as Battenberg, fruit cake or Victoria sponge). In hotels and tea shops the food is often served on a tiered stand; there may be no sandwiches, but bread or scones with butter or margarine and optional jam or other spread, or toast, muffins or crumpets. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Emerald Dreams by Hiroo Isono


Size: 500 pieces, 1 missing
Dimensions: 51 cm x 41 cm
Producer: Ceaco, # 1124-2
Artist: Hiroo Isono – Born in 1945. Graduated from Aichi Kyoiku Univ. and started his career as a free-lance illustrater from 1970.
Isono’s work with mainly its theme in nature such as jungle and tropical nature are filled with serene atmosphere appealing nature’s wonder strongly.
Isono has travelled various places such as Yaeyama Archipelago, Solomon Islands, Yakushima, Amazon, North America, Kenya, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and other forest region.
1991 corporate calendar using his work received an award at Japan Ntional Calendar Exhibit. [Character’s Village site]
Notes: Printed on Holo-Glow shimmer paper

Puzzle: Cher Bourges Cathedral


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26 cm x 35.56 cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Churches and Cathedral series
Notes: Bourges Cathedral (Cathedrale Saint-Etienne de Bourges) is a cathedral, dedicated to Saint Stephen, located in Bourges, France. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Bourges.

It is based on the Notre-Dame in Paris but with significant differences in design. The cathedral is noted for its unique feats of architecture, impressive sculptures and thirteenth-century stained glass windows.

Bourges Cathedral has a highly unique floor plan. It has no transepts, which form the cross-shape of most churches. This lends the cathedral a unique appearance inside and out. On the exterior, thick walls and a myriad of flying buttresses support the unbroken weight of the long nave (122m).

Bourges Cathedral retains almost all its original ambulatory glass (apart from the axial chapel), dating from about 1215. The iconography used in many of these windows uses typology (such as Old Testament episodes prefiguring events in the life of Christ) and symbolism (such as the pelican  who pecks her breast to feed her young on her own blood and the lioness who licks the malformed cub into shape) to communicate theological messages. Other windows show the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son, the story of Dives and Lazarus, and the Apocalypse. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Cape Code Shed by Barbara Mock


Size: 300 pieces
Dimensions: 45.72cm x 60.96cm
Producer:  Karmin International
Painting: photo
Box: photo
Artist: Barbara Mock – American Impressionist Barbara Mock, is well known for her florals and still lives, peaceful scenics, charming cottages, ivy-framed birdhouses, whimsical gardening angels, delicate tea pots and tea cups and colorful dried flower wreaths. Her unique style of oil painting is structured with a strong sense of design and embellished with brush strokes varying from thin to bold. Barbara creates delicate lace patterns and strong substantive blends of subdued color in subtle contrast with an inner strength and romantic flavor so perfect for traditional decor. [Bentley Group Publishing site]

Puzzle: Hogwarts Castle, Harry Potter


Size: 550 pieces
Producer: Mattel (I believe)
Notes: I do not have a record of the producer of the puzzle as I do not have the box anymore. A clarification is welcome – if you have any clue as to the details regarding this puzzle, I would much appreciate that information.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry or simply Hogwarts is the primary setting for the first six books of the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, with each book lasting the equivalent of one school year. It is a fictional boarding school of magic for witches and wizards between the ages of eleven and seventeen.

Rowling has suggested that she may have inadvertently taken the name from the hogwort plant (Croton capitatus), which she had seen at Kew Gardens some time before writing the Harry Potter series.

In the novels, Hogwarts is located somewhere in Scotland. The school has numerous charms and spells on and around it that make it impossible for a Muggle  (i.e., a non-magical person) to locate it. Such people cannot see the school; rather, they see only ruins and several warnings of danger. The castle has extensive grounds with sloping lawns, flowerbeds and vegetable patches, a loch (called The Black Lake), a large dense forest (called the Forbidden Forest), several greenhouses and other outbuildings, and a full-size Quidditch pitch. There is also an owlery, which houses all the owls owned by the school and those owned by students. It should be noted that some rooms in the school tend to “move around”, and so do the stairs in the grand staircase. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Waits River, Vermont


Size: 500 pieces
Notes: I do not have a record of the producer of the puzzle as I do not have the box anymore. A clarification is welcome – if you have any clue as to the details regarding this puzzle, I would much appreciate that information.

The Waits River is a 39.4 km-long river in eastern Vermont in the United States. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River, which flows to Long Island Sound. According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has also been known historically as “Wait’s River” and as “Ma-houn-quam-mas-see.”

The Waits River rises in southwestern Caledonia County in the town of Groton and shortly enters Orange County, where it flows generally southeastwardly through the towns of Orange, Topsham, Corinth and Bradford, to the village of Bradford where it joins the Connecticut River.

In the town of Bradford, it collects a short stream known as the South Branch Waits River, which flows eastwardly from Corinth. [Wiki]

 

Puzzle: Moritzburg Castle, Saxony, Germany


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben, MB Puzzles
Notes: The original castle was built from 1542–1546 as a hunting lodge for Moritz of Wettin, then Duke of Saxony. Elector John George II of Saxony  had it extended and between 1661 and 1671 the chapel was added after designs by his architect Wolf Caspar von Klengels, a fine example of the early Baroque style. After in 1697 John George’s grandson Elector Frederick Augustus I had converted to Catholicism in order to secure his election as King of Poland, the chapel was consecrated in the Catholic rite. Between 1723 and 1733, Augustus had the castle largely remodelled as a pleasure seat by the architects Matthaus Daniel Poppelmann and Zacharias Longuelune, including a formal park, several ponds and a game preserve. The last resident from the House of Wettin was Prince Ernst Heinrich of Saxony, dispossessed in 1945 by the Soviet Military Administration in Germany. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Frog Business



Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51cm x 69cm
Producer: Serendipity Puzzles
Artist: Lori Anzalone
Notes: Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura (meaning “tail-less”, from Greek an-, without + oura, tail), formerly referred to as Salientia (Latin salere (salio), “to jump”). Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits (fingers or toes), protruding eyes and the absence of a tail. Frogs are widely known as exceptional jumpers, and many of the anatomical  characteristics of frogs, particularly their long, powerful legs, are adaptations to improve jumping performance. Due to their permeable skin, frogs are often semi-aquatic or inhabit humid areas, but move easily on land. They typically lay their eggs in puddles, ponds or lakes, and their larvae, called tadpoles, have gills and develop in water. Adult frogs follow a carnivorous diet, mostly of arthropods, annelids and gastropods. Frogs are most noticeable by their call, which can be widely heard during the night or day, mainly in their mating season.

In addition to their ecological importance, frogs have many cultural roles, such as in literature, symbolism and religion, and they are also valued as food and as pets. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Ocean Terrace


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.6cm
Producer: Sure-Lox
Notes: An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.

More than half of this area is over 3,000 metres deep. Average oceanic salinity is around 3.5% Scientists estimate that 230,000 marine species are currently known, but the total could be up to 10 times that number. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Volcano Moon


Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 48.1cm x 64.8cm
Producer: RoseArt, Borders series
Box: photo
Artist: A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet’s surface or crust, which allows hot magma, volcanic ash and gases to escape from below the surface. The word volcano is derived from the name of Vulcano, a volcanic island in the Aeolian Islands of Italy whose name in turn originates from Vulcan, the name of a god of fire in Roman mythology.

Volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging. A mid-oceanic ridge, for example the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, has examples of volcanoes caused by divergent tectonic plates pulling apart; the Pacific Ring of Fire has examples of volcanoes caused by convergent tectonic plates coming together. By contrast, volcanoes are usually not created where two tectonic plates slide past one another. Volcanoes can also form where there is stretching and thinning of the Earth’s crust in the interiors of plates, e.g., in the East African Rift, the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field and the Rio Grande Rift in North America. [Wiki]

Puzzle: St. Mark’s Basilica, Italy


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26 cm x 35.56 cm
Producer: Sure-Lox
Notes: The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, northern Italy. It is the most famous of the city’s churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture. It lies at the eastern end of the Piazza San Marco, adjacent and connected to the Doge’s Palace.

The exterior of the basilica is divided in three registers: lower, upper, and domes. In the lower register of the facade five round-arched portals, enveloped by polychrome marble columns, open into the narthex through bronze-fashioned doors. Above the central door round three bas-relief cycles of Romanesque art. The external cycle frames a 19th century gilded mosaic (Last Judgment) that replaced a damaged one with the same subject (during the centuries many mosaics had to be replaced inside and outside the basilica, but subjects were never changed). Mosaics about St Mark relics’ stories are in the lunettes  of the lateral portals; the first on the left is the only one in the facade preserved from the 13th century. In the upper register, from the top of ogee arches, statues of Theological and Cardinal Virtues, four Warrior Saints and St Mark watch over the city. Above the large central window of the facade, under St Mark, the Winged Lion (his symbol) holds the book quoting “Pax Tibi Marce Evangelista Meus” (Peace to you Mark my evangelist). In the lunettes of the lateral ogee arches are four gilded mosaics renewed in the 17th century. In the center of the balcony the Greek Horses face the square. [Wiki]