Tag Archives: puzzle

Puzzle: Evening Light by David Miller


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 23 cm x 53cm
Producer: MasterPieces, Vertical Panoramic series
Artists: David Miller
Notes: David C. Miller is an internationally acclaimed marine artist who’s work has graced the covers of everything from greeting cards to jigsaw puzzles, but his best work has always been done on lexan and canvas. His use of acrylics have earned him acclaim from art critics as well as environmentalists. David’s personal pursuit has always been that of environmental preservation. His portfolio includes commissioned works for such prestigious foundations as Sea Turtles of the World, an environmental group protecting endangered sea turtles, and The Franklin Mint, part of the proceeds from the porcelain heirloom collectors plates goes to the Save The Dolphin program. His work is also shown in many prestigious Aquariums across the nation.

Coupling his artistic talent with a degree in technical drafting David began his career as a full-time artist in 1984, and received immediate recognition for his captivating marine subjects, portrayed with unique depth and three-dimensional perspective. [David Miller site]

Puzzle: Cobblestone Bridge by Thomas Kinkade


Size: 700 pieces
Dimensions: 86.36 cm x 30.48cm
Producer: Ceaco
Artist: Thomas Kinkade
Box: photo
Notes: Cobblestones are stones that were frequently used in the pavement of early streets. “Cobblestone” is derived from the very old English word “cob”, which had a wide range of meanings, one of which was “rounded lump” with overtones of large size. “Cobble”, which appeared in the 15th century, simply added the diminutive suffix “le” to “cob”, and meant a small stone rounded by the flow of water; essentially, a large pebble. It was these smooth “cobbles”, gathered from stream beds, that paved the first “cobblestone” streets.

Note that Cobble is a generic geological term for any stone having dimensions between 2.5–10 inches. A cobbled area is known as a “causey”, “cassay” or “cassie” in Scots. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Summer’s Delight


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 50.8cm x 50.8cm
Producer: Springbok, by Hallmark, PZL2443
Photographer: Phil Smith
Notes: Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice. The date of the beginning of summer varies according to climate, culture and tradition.

From an astronomical view, the equinoxes and solstices would be the middle of the respective seasons, but a variable seasonal lag means that the meteorological  start of the season, which is based on average temperature patterns, occurs several weeks later than the start of the astronomical season. According to meteorologists, summer extends for the whole months of June, July and August in the northern hemisphere and the whole months of December, January and February in the southern hemisphere. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Safe Harbor


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 33cm x 48.3cm
Notes: Puzzle showing a lighthouse during the day and – when tilted – under the starry sky.

Lenticular printing is a technology in which a lenticular lens is used to produce images with an illusion of depth, or the ability to change or move as the image is viewed from different angles. Examples of lenticular printing include prizes given in Cracker Jack  snack boxes that showed flip and animation effects such as winking eyes, and modern advertising graphics that change their message depending on the viewing angle. This technology was created in the 1940s but has evolved in recent years to show more motion and increased depth. Originally used mostly in novelty items, lenticular prints are now being used as a marketing tool to show products in motion. Recent advances in large-format presses have allowed for oversized lenses to be used in lithographic lenticular printing. [Wiki]

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.

Puzzle: The Unicorn by Myles Pinkney


Size: 550 pieces
Dimensions: 61cm x 46cm
Producer: Ceaco, Glow in the Dark series
Artist: Myles Pinkney
Box: photo
Notes: A unicorn (from Latin unus ‘one’ and cornu ‘horn’) is a mythological creature described as having a long, straight horn extending from its forehead. Though the modern popular image of the unicorn is sometimes that of a horse differing only in the horn, the traditional unicorn also has a billy-goat beard, a lion’s tail, and cloven hooves—these distinguish it from a horse. Marianna Mayer has observed (The Unicorn and the Lake), “The unicorn is the only fabulous beast that does not seem to have been conceived out of human fears. In even the earliest references he is fierce yet good, selfless yet solitary, but always mysteriously beautiful. He could be captured only by unfair means, and his single horn was said to neutralize poison.” [Wiki]

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Puzzle: Sanctuary by Sheila Wolk


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73cm x 48.6cm
Producer: Impressions, Sure-Lox
Artist: Sheila Wolk
Painting: photo
Notes: I wish the artist’s site contained some information about the painting itself and the inspiration for it. Unfortunately, the designers appear to be more concerned with protecting the images from being stolen by placing the artist name in large letters over the top of the paintings.

A sanctuary is the consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar. In modern parlance, the term is used to mean any place of safety.

In Europe, Christian churches were sometimes built on land considered as a particularly ‘holy spot’, perhaps where a miracle or martyrdom had taken place or where a holy person was buried. The place, and therefore the church built there, was considered to have been sanctified (made holy) by what happened there. In modern times, the Roman Catholic Church has continued this practice by placing in the altar of each church, when it is consecrated for use, a box (the sepulcrum) containing relics of a saint. The relics box is removed when the church is taken out of use as a church. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Razzberry Creek Crossing by Carl Valente


Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 48.1cm x 64.8cm
Producer: RoseArt, Borders series
Box: photo
Artist: Carl Valente – In the nineties, Carl began his magnificent “Homes of the Americana” series. This series includes Victorian farmhouses, manors of New England, villages on the lakes of the Midwest, log homes of the West, and colonials of the South. [Bentley Publishing Group site ]
Painting: photo

Puzzle: A wave of colour, County Cork


Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 68cm x 48.1cm
Producer:  Mega Brands, Windows of the World series
Artist: Fine photography by John and Debora Scanlan
Notes: County Cork (Irish: Contae Chorcaí) is one of the twenty-six traditional counties of the Republic of Ireland and one of the thirty-two traditional counties in the island of Ireland. The southernmost of the Irish counties, it is located in the province of Munster. It is Ireland’s largest county and is the second most populous county, with a population of 481,295 in 2006. Named after the city of Cork (Irish: Corcaigh), Cork is colloquially known as “The Rebel County”. In recent times, the name has referred to the prominent role Cork played in the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921) when it was the scene of most of the fighting; in addition, it was an anti-treaty stronghold during the Irish Civil War (1922–23). [Wiki]

Puzzle: Shaped castles


Size: 1000 pieces, multiple pieces missing
Producer: Sure-Lox

Thank you to Renee for providing the size and the producer as I do not have the box for this puzzle anymore.

Notes: Shaped puzzle on black background depicting multiple castles in a single collage, surrounded by a white border.

A castle (from Latin castellum) is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a palace, which is not fortified, from a fortress, which was not always a residence for nobility, and from a fortified town, which was a public defence – though there are many similarities among these types of construction. Usage of the term has varied over time and has been applied to structures as diverse as hill forts and country houses. Over the approximately 900 years that castles were built they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls and arrowslits, were commonplace. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Fortress of Dragons by Matt Stawicki


Size: 550 pieces
Dimensions: 61cm x 46cm
Producer: Ceaco, Glow in the Dark series, # 2333-34
Artist: Matt Stawicki
Notes: Fortress is a series of fantasy novels by science fiction and fantasy author C. J. Cherryh, published by HarperCollins. They are set in a medieval fantasy world with a 15th century feel and feature magic, sorcery, medieval warfare, politics and other elements common to the High Fantasy subgenre. [Wiki]

The fourth book of the series – Fortress of Dragons – was published in 2000. Matt Stawicki did the cover for this book.

Puzzle: Grand Teton Mountain, Wyoming, USA


Size: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben, MB Puzzles
Notes: Grand Teton, at 4,199 m, is the high point of the Teton Range, and the second highest peak in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The mountain is entirely within the Snake River drainage basin, which it feeds by several local creeks and glaciers.The Teton Range is a minor range of the Rocky Mountains, which extend from southern Alaska to northern New Mexico.

The origin of the current name is controversial. The most common explanation is that “Grand Teton” means “large teat” in French, named by either French-Canadian or Iroquois members of an expedition led by Donald McKenzie of the North West Company. However, other historians disagree, and claim that the mountain was named after the Teton Sioux tribe of Native Americans. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Sydney Harbour Bridge


Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 59.69cm x 39.37cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Wonderful World series
Notes: The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district and the North Shore. The dramatic view of the bridge, the harbour, and the nearby Sydney Opera House is an iconic image of both Sydney and Australia. The bridge is locally nicknamed “The Coat Hanger” because of its arch-based design.

Under the directions of Dr J.J.C. Bradfield of the NSW Department of Public Works, the bridge was designed and built by English firm Dorman Long and Co Ltd of Middlesbrough, and opened in 1932. According to the Guinness World Records, it is the world’s widest long-span bridge. It is also the fifth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world, and it is the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134 metres from top to water level. [Wiki]

Puzzle: That’s Life! Part I – The Labyrinth by Marino Degano


Size: 2000 pieces
Dimensions: 68cm x 96cm
Producer: Heye
Artist: Marino Degano – The cartoon artist Marino Degano is at home in many cultures.  He was born in Italy, grew up in Germany and currently lives in France, and so is well acquainted with the little idiosyncrasies, corners and edges of European citizens, and does not shy away in the slightest from using this as the core of his charming ironic masterpieces. [Southwest Puzzles site]
Notes: This covers all the vices available to people.  Envy, greed,vanity, wrath, sloth, gluttony and lust.  Degano hasn’t missed much about life and covers some of it in graphic detail. [Southwest Puzzles site]

Puzzle: 1000 Islands


Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 59.69cm x 39.37cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Wonderful World series
Notes: The Thousand Islands is the name of an archipelago of islands that straddle the Canada-U.S. border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for about 80 km downstream from Kingston, Ontario. The Canadian islands are in the province of Ontario. The U.S. islands are in the state of New York. The islands, which number 1,793 in all, range in size from over 100 km2 to smaller islands occupied by a single residence, to even smaller uninhabited outcroppings of rocks that are home to migratory waterfowl. The number of islands was determined using the criteria that any island must be above water level all year round, have an area greater than 1 square foot (930 cm2), and support at least one living tree. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Via dell’Amore by Rod Chase


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26cm x 35.56cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox
Artist: Rod Chase
Video: The Love Story behind Via dell’Amore
Notes: The Cinque Terre towns were extremely isolated until the last century. Villagers rarely married anyone from outside their town. After the blasting of the second train line in the 1920s, a trail was made between the first two towns: Riomaggiore and Manarola. A gunpowder warehouse was built along the way, safely away from the townspeople. (That building is today’s Bar dell’Amore.)

Happy with the trail, the villagers asked that it be improved as a permanent connection between neighbors. But persistent landslides kept the trail closed more often than it was open. After World War II, the trail was reopened, and became established as a lovers’ meeting point for boys and girls from the two towns. (After one extended closure in 1949, the trail was reopened for a Christmas marriage.) A journalist, who noticed all the amorous graffiti along the path, coined the trail’s now-established name, Via dell’Amore: “Pathway of Love.” [Smithsonian.com site]

Puzzle: Middleton Place Garden


Size: 750 pieces
Dimensions: 59.69cm x 39.37cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Puzzlers Collection series
Notes: Middleton Place is a plantation in Dorchester County, directly across the Ashley River from North Charleston and about 24 km northwest of Charleston, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Built in several phases throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the plantation was the primary residence of several generations of the Middleton family, many of whom played prominent roles in the colonial and antebellum history of South Carolina. The plantation, now a National Historic Landmark District, currently functions as a museum, and is home to the oldest landscaped gardens in the United States. [Wiki]

Puzzle: The Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers, Frodo and Sam


Size: 500 pieces, 1 missing
Dimensions: 61cm x 92cm
Producer: Irwin Toy, Wrebbit, Perfalock series
Box: photo
Notes: Perfalock, the first puzzle that goes anywhere without going to pieces! Make it, move it, mount it, and it won’t fall apart. Precisely crafted out of flexible foam, the pieces fit together so perfectly you can barely see the seams. Its unique backing material means that the puzzles stay together without requiring messy glue. Now you can create your own unique Lord of the Ringss poster and hang it on your wall as you would a traditional poster. [Puzzle box]

Puzzle: Garden Party


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.4cm x 35.5cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, Wonderful World series
Notes: A garden party is a social gathering with food provided, in the open in a park or a garden. Unlike a picnic or barbecue, which are informal, a garden party can be a prestigious event. For example, invitations to parties of the British Sovereign, held at Buckingham Palace Gardens, are a great honour, and are very rare except for those in traditionally invited high offices.

Many games are traditionally played at garden parties. In Champs-Élysées, Paris, there is an annual Garden Party on 14 July on the occasion of Bastille Day. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Sagrada Familia


Size: 141 pieces (101 crescents, 40 border edges)
Dimensions: 43.18cm x 66.04cm
Producer: Imagination Project, Panda Enterprises, Tesselz, Crescent series
Notes: The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (English: Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family), commonly known as the Sagrada Família, is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926). Although incomplete, the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. [Wiki]

Tesselz is a new series of jigsaw puzzles where the SHAPE of the pieces is as important as the image itself! Tesselz have unusual shaped pieces that “tessellate” or tile together every way you turn them, adding a unique twist to jigsaw puzzles.

The brain-teasing twist of Tesselz’s repeating identical shapes will revolutionize the way you’ll think of puzzles. No longer is fitting shapes together enough – you need to take a good look at the lines, colors, and patterns to get the right pieces in place! The curious nooks and details of this wondrous architectural master-piece ensure a fun and thrilling challenge. [Puzzle box]

Crescent Series Notes: The emphasis on structure within the puzzle’s design ties perfectly to the thematic link of this series: Designs in Architecture. Take our selected image here as one example and then begin to see on your own how the elements of geometry, symmetry, and asymmetry have been utilized throughout history in the buildings and structures erected by man, to form monuments of enduring and inspiring beauty.

The designer, Dr. Haresh Lalvani, based in the field of architecture is a leading researcher in morphology. He is known for his use of higher dimensions as a means of visualizing new geometries for architecture and mapping transforming structures. He is a tenured professor at the School of Architecture at the Pratt Institute, where he has been teaching since 1970. Today, he continues his exploration of advanced geometry at the Pratt Institute and as an artist-in-residence at the Cathedral of St.John the Divine in New York. [Puzzle box]

Sagrada Facts – Did you know??

  • The Sagrada Familia is one of the longest running construction projects under way in the world today.
  • In the Middle Ages, cathedrals routinely took centuries to build.
  • The tower representing Christ, which has not been built yet, is shown in some drawings to be nearly twice the height of the existing towers.
  • Construction is being aided today by computer-guided saws that can chisel granite in one-sixth of the time it takes by hand.

[Puzzle box]

Puzzle: Rock Formations


Size: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26cm x 35.56cm
Producer: Sure-Lox
Notes: Sedimentary rock is a type of rock that is formed by sedimentation of material at the Earth’s surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles (detritus) to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution. Particles that form a sedimentary rock by accumulating are called sediment. Before being deposited, sediment was formed by weathering and erosion in a source area, and then transported to the place of deposition by water, wind, mass movement or glaciers which are called agents of denudation.

The sedimentary rock cover of the continents of the Earth’s crust is extensive, but the total contribution of sedimentary rocks is estimated to be only 5% of the total volume of the crust. Sedimentary rocks are only a thin veneer over a crust consisting mainly of igneous and metamorphic rocks. [Wiki]