My wife loves to work crossword puzzles, so yesterday I bought a collection of ten puzzles, collectively with a 5600 piece total, all in the same box. The instructions say that each puzzle is wrapped in a separate bag. Sure am glad about that, as I was worried for a minute as I was studying the box, also chuckling to myself that they needed to tell me that. The two 300-piece puzzles are about my speed with larger pieces that I can easily see. The 500-piece puzzle that she is working on now must have at least one hundred small solid blue pieces. I don’t think that I am even going to look at that one, let alone the two 750-piece and one 1,000-piece puzzle. A puzzle, meant to promote relaxation, can lead to frustration if you struggle for hours and make little progress, in my opinion.
I’m assuming you mean jigsaw puzzles. I’ve never tried to piece together a crossword puzzle.
I was thinking of this.
Nice idea, but it doesn’t seem to have ‘at least one hundred small solid blue pieces.’
I remember that there was a puzzle called the purple dread. 5,000 pieces Purple (I think on both sides).
my parents would have gotten it!
they did not leave any prisoners when they were killing time
Yes, of course I meant jigsaw puzzles. Crossword puzzles are another matter all together. My sister in law gets out of bed, gets the paper, and works the crossword puzzle before she goes to work. My brother has instructions not to talk to her during this time. So much for a friendly breakfast together.
I do think jigsaw puzzles are a waste of time, Denny. With the time spent doing puzzles I could be cleaning the Venetian blinds, I suppose. The trouble is that I just don’t feel like being productive part of the time, and the question becomes, “How am I going to waste time now?” My short list includes: 1) check the internet sites to see what’s going on, 2) watch network TV (crime shows in particular), 3) crochet potholders, 4) work on jigsaw puzzles. It seems to me that I need to develop a longer shortlist.
Watch paint dry
Watch grass grow
Watch snooker
Watch darts
Sounds dangerous in more than one way.
Yes, if that’s ALL someone does. No, if it’s a hobby, even a favorite, frequent one. We all have our pursuits can which lay no claim to definable productiveness, but I’m certain such things are an essential part of human nature and needs.
I love Venetian blinds, cut up just right they make great plant labels for the garden. Knowing how to crochet these can pay for R&B at university. I always get a kick out of that when I’m not so busy juggling everything else.
I suppose throwing stars in the backyard would make the neighbors nervous…
“Oh, look, Madge. There’s Mr. Denny again, doing that nice different Oriental dance of his. He should be more careful, though…looks like there’s a bird stuck to that there board.”
Doug has a back yard…I don’t 
During the summer, when work was slow at a certain office, the denizens went through about a dozen 5000-piece jigsaws. That was eight people, each fitting in a couple of pieces as they passed, or sorting through the box at a tea break. Of course they were cleared away if the high-head-yins showed up. (Lost a few pieces that way, too!)
It’s a pleasant occupation if it you have the room to keep one laid out (without livestock interfering), so you can complete the thing in a couple of weeks.
If it’s all you’re doing, then, mmm, maybe you’re not stretching your mental resources.
I don’t see how it could possibly be satisfactory to work on a jigsaw that had to be swept out of sight every time the hifalutins appeared. The key is spreading them out and organizing the bits into color-similar groups.
Over the few months that the Jigsaws were in use, the Brass-hats only showed up three times. Many jigsaws were never moved until completed.
If you are the competitive type, online jigsaws may be your bag, although I find it a little discouraging. I just worked a online puzzle of a lighthouse which took me 9 minutes to complete. I read on the bottom of the screen that Luke completed the same puzzle in 57 seconds. It makes me feel that I am plodding along in slow gear. One good thing about online jigsaw puzzles is that you can choose all of the parameters of the puzzle, such as theme, shape of pieces, number of pieces, etc. Also, the pieces are aligned on the screen in their correct orientation, so you never have to turn a piece upside down or sideways to make it fit. You can find a number of websites by searching “online jigsaw puzzles” Here is the one that I was using: http://www.crazy4jigsaws.com
I think jigsaw puzzles are a good method to develop visual discrimination skills. That being said, my visual discrimination skills are fine so shoot me if I ever have to actually put together a complicated jigsaw puzzle. They no longer serve a purpose for me and are akin to torture.