Jigsaw Puzzles

[Hugh Wallington]

Here's a jigsaw with a 'Scottish' flavour for you to try.  Dare I say a musical jigsaw?  This one's 100 pieces, and is in full colour.

Click on the picture to set it up.



Now, how does this work?

First, the completed jigsaw shows; then it automatically breaks apart.  Top right of the jigsaw bits there is an icon .. Show Preview.  Clicking on this will show the picture again in the top right corner.  If you move your mouse outside the picture area, the picture will be solid; if inside, it will 'grey out' so you can get at the pieces behind it.  If you no longer want the picture showing click the icon in bottom left hand corner of the picture (Hide Preview).  The picture is also re-sizable, and you can make it much larger.  Move the mouse over the left hand or bottom edge until you get a 'double arrow'.  Click and drag outwards/downwards to enlarge the picture to maximum (not the whole screen, obviously, or you would not see any pieces!).  This is not quite the same as you would do for enlarging a photograph .. ie. you can't do this from the corner.

Left top there is a MENU.  Click on these words and you will get a drop-down box.  Click on the word MENU again (which is now at the bottom of the list) and it will 'hide' the Menu.  Or .. click and move any of the pieces and the Menu will disappear.

MENU

Pull Pieces Apart .. puts the pieces all round the edge, leaving you space in the middle to work in.
Change Background .. as the jigsaw is in black & white it may be easier to work with eg. a blue 'hessian' background.  Keep clicking the option until you get the colour you prefer.
Mute Sound .. you get a 'click' sound when the pieces join together.  If you don't want that, 'Mute' it.
? .. Help .. Clicking on this is a must before you start, as it shows everything I am mentioning in this posting.  'Close' is in the top right corner.

Bottom row icons

There is one to click on for Edges Only.  This'll get you off to a good start as all the other pieces are then out of the way.
Bottom left .. the 'light bulb'.  Hint.  This is fun! Two pieces that fit together will 'flash' momentarily.  Then you have to remember which they were, and move them.  Bit like playing that 'Memory Game' with the children (or grandchildren) when they were little.

Bottom right there is a clock timing you to see how long you take to do it.  The pressure is on!  Click to PAUSE it.  Go make a cup of tea or something and then carry on by clicking anywhere on the screen.

IMPORTANT: Far right hand corner .. a toggle to bring it all up to FULL SCREEN.  More room to work in!

How to put the jigsaw together.

Click on any piece and drag it up, left, right or down.  When two pieces join, they 'lock' together (with a sound .. Mute if you don't want to hear that).  You can't rotate pieces in this jigsaw.  They lock together 'as-is'.  It is a good idea just to drag pieces about anyway, as there are pieces hiding behind pieces.

Happy jigsawing!

Hugh

[Hugh Wallington]

I thought I would have a go at the Bagpipes jigsaw.  Only 100 pieces; and in colour.  I had noticed that under the jigsaw there was a save this puzzle; and underneath that autosave every minute.  So clicked both those before I started.  I then brought the puzzle up to Full Screen and clicked on Edges Only at the bottom.  With no rotation involved, I moved these straight edged pieces to where they would be needed; top, bottom, left and right.  Then being in colour, it was fairly straightforward to move the pices so they locked together.  Any that were locked together would move together as I dragged them across the screen.  I found I didn't need to show the Preview.

As the last of the outside edge pieces clicked in, all the remaining pieces just appeared, all jumbled up.  It was at this point I had to leave it as we were going out, so I closed the Laptop down, and didn't get back to it until the following morning.

When I re-visited the puzzle, it was all set up again from scratch, but then I noticed a load saved puzzle on the right, with Playing a Bagpipe underneath. So clicked on that and everything was immediately restored to the point I had left it the night before.  The clock was also stopped, with the caption Paused. Click to continue across the middle of the screen.

So from this I presume I can tackle more than one puzzle at any one time, close it all down .. and come back to finish them later.

Hugh

[Hugh Wallington]

Well, I did it in the end.  I kept losing pieces that I was looking for.  Eventually I had enough space round the edges of the jigsaw to put all the remaining pieces, and from that point on it went like a bomb.  The clock said I had taken 48mins .. and this was an 'easy' one, in colour!

Hugh

PS.  I also discovered that I could move pieces by clicking on them and 'releasing'; then moving the mouse and clicking again where I wanted the piece dropped.  I also very much needed for the sound to be ON, as that was the only way to be sure that the piece had locked in.

[Hugh Wallington]

Now then ...

When you go to the Jigsaw Puzzle Home Page ...

https://thejigsawpuzzles.com/

... you will see on the right ... make a puzzle.

When you click on that, this is what you see:

Create your free account on TheJigsawPuzzles.com

You asked, we did: new cool features available to registered users of TheJigsawPuzzles.com. Well, we're just getting started, but here are what's ready and what to expect soon:

Make puzzles from your own pictures
Receive daily puzzles by email if you wish
Share your puzzles with friends
Save your progress and continue saved puzzles later
Leave comments on puzzles (coming soon)
Compete for fastest times (coming soon)
So take a second, sign up with the below button (yes, it's free) and start having fun:

So I have signed up with a USERNAME and PASSWORD (did not tick the box to receive jigsaw puzzles every day .. don't want that!).  Had an email I had to click on to complete the process.  Went and Logged In and clicked on the words make a puzzle on my account page.

The page showed my name on the left; said Make puzzles from your pictures to the right; and informed me I could add 30 more puzzles to my album.
Then choose files ...
So I chose a picture I had taken outside St. Martin's Hotel, Isles of Scilly.
It showed a thumbnail of the picture, and underneath said Make puzzle.
So did that.  It said: Successfully added 1 files. Now you can edit the descriptions if you wish.

Then .. IMPORTANT .. Underneath it had a box for Default cut.  This is for the number of pieces you want the jigsaw cut into.  Anything from 20 pieces to 500 pieces. And the STYLE .. Classic, Elegant, Mosaic and Square. I chose 50 pieces this time.  Classic.

You then have to click on Change (underneath).

And there it was, in my list, showing 50 in the top left hand corner, with item actions underneath should I wish to Edit anything (Title, Description or number of pieces etc.), either now or at a later date.

And here it is for you to try! Click on the picture.



Hugh

[Hugh Wallington]

I have an ulterior motive for doing all this.  I have two granddaughters and I'm sure they would be thrilled to have a jigsaw of photographs I have taken of them.  Would probably do it as a 20 piece jigsaw.  That'll probably be enough for them to cope with.  I wonder if they do a 'touch screen' version so they can do them on their iPads or Mobiles?  They don't have Desktop Computers or Laptops. 

Hugh

[Margaret Draper]

Hugh -I am a fan of jigsaw puzzles.
This looks really interesting, but spare time at the moment is not an option.
I look forward to getting back again to this page.
MARGARET

[Hugh Wallington]

A bit of fun

It's Christmas Time!  Well, not quite yet, but it's on it's way.  You need some baubles to decorate your Christmas Tree so have a go at assembling the jigsaw below.  This is one of their basic puzzles so has 50 pieces.  Instructions for doing it are in the posts above. 

Basically, click on a piece .. which will bring it to above the other pieces; then drag it to where you want it to go .. and release it.  When two pieces fit, they 'lock' together.  Clicking on any 'joined' pieces and dragging will move the whole block to a different part of the puzzle.  The puzzle is smaller than the area you are working in, so the whole puzzle can be moved to make it easier to see pieces that are behind.

Notes:

1.  Before you start doing the jigsaw, click on the bottom right icon (crossed arrows) to open it up FULL SCREEN (more room to work in).


2.  Maybe start by clicking the icon on the bottom left that says "Edges Only" when you hover over it.
3.  Once pieces are joined there will be no pieces hidden 'underneath'.  They will always be on top of the completed pieces .. but of course may not be easy to see because of the colours.
4.  Clicking on completed sections of the jigsaw and dragging them will move the whole block across the screen to where you want it to go.
5.  Last, but not least, none of the pieces ever have to be 'rotated'; .. they are in the right configuration to insert them into the jigsaw as they are.

Click on the picture below to start.


Hugh

[Penry Evans]

Hi Hugh, I had a go at the jigsaw but I think it has damaged my monitor. I started but the pieces wouldn't fit so in the old adage square peg round hole I used a mallet. Now my monitor won't work. Any suggestions on what's wrong. Is it possible I made a mistake somewhere. Yours, Penry.

[Hugh Wallington]

Hi Penry,

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Not to be confused with hammer or sledgehammer. A mallet is a kind of hammer, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. The term is descriptive of the overall size and proportions of the tool, and not the materials it may be made of, though most mallets have striking faces that are softer than steel.

Mallets are used in various industries, such as upholstery work, and a variety of other general purposes. It is a tool of preference for wood workers using chisels with plastic, metal, or wooden handles, as they give a softened strike with a positive drive.

Maybe you used a sledgehammer on your monitor?  And did you do the strike "with a positive drive", when maybe you should have done it with an A: Drive or a C: Drive.

I have done the jigsaw again, and have noticed that there are two ways of moving the pieces.

1. 'Click and hold' on a piece and drag it round the board. Then release the piece near (but not right over) where you want it to go.  If it's in approximately the right place to fit it will 'slide in' by itself.  If not, it will just stay where you put it.

2. Click and immediately release the mouse button.  If you move the mouse around (don't click the button) it will drag the piece around the board.  When you get the piece where you want it (but not right over) you click the mouse button to drop it off.  If it's in approximately the right place to fit it will 'slide in' by itself.  If you don't click (left-click) the mouse button when doing it this way then the piece will not be dropped off.

If you get really stuck as to which pieces go where, along the bottom on the left you will see a 'light bulb'.  This is a 'hint' button.  Click it and two pieces that do fit together will momentarily 'flash'.  Click the light bulb again and it will show you another two.

It is definitely best to first bring the jigsaw up to full screen; then click the 'Edges Only' icon, bottom left.  Drag the pieces about so they are away from each other, and then start fitting them together (click the light bulb if needs must).  When the jigsaw is looking reasonably solid, 'click and hold' on a solid piece and drag the whole jigsaw right into the middle of the screen.  When you have completed the outside edge and all the other pieces appear, click and drag them round the outside one at a time so you have room to work on in the middle.

Good luck with it!  And I'm sorry about your monitor!

Hugh

[Penry Evans]

Thanks, Hugh, for the helpful suggestions, it was definitely a mallet because I was using a chisel with it and I did see a flash as you suggested, it was just before the monitor went off. Penry.