Wasgij?

I am a puzzle lover.  I love puzzles.  Jared says they let me feel like I'm making order out of chaos.  Sure, I'll buy that psychological theory.  All I know is that they are soothing, entertaining, challenging, and enjoyable.

I prefer 750-1,000 piece puzzles.  I recently bought a 1,500 piece puzzle, but I haven't put it together yet because I don't have anywhere big enough to do it!

Several years ago, Jared bought me a super fantastic puzzle for a Christmas present.  It's called a Wasgij.  That's "jigsaw" backwards.

I'll tell you why it's special in a minute.

This year Jared found another Wasgij for me, and I thought I'd share in case any of you are fellow puzzle lovers who would enjoy a new challenge.

Here's the front of my newest Wasgij:

The picture on the front of the box is not what the puzzle looks like.  You can see this question in the upper right corner that says, "What's the BIG surprise?"  So the people on the beach in this picture are seeing something surprising, and I have to put together the puzzle to see what they're seeing.  Make sense?

Here's the box picture again:

Spoiler alert!  Here's the completed puzzle:

Isn't that fun?  Well, it is for a nerd like me.  You can see some things included in the perspective of the puzzle that were on the box front.  For example, the box front has two oblivious people in red and yellow striped chairs.  The puzzle is from a perspective directly behind them, so their chairs are included in the puzzle.  The same is true for the woman in the red and blue striped swim suit and the woman in the pink swim suit.  These pictures help as you first start to put the puzzle together and figure out exactly where stuff goes.

I have two more helpful tips for puzzle fun.

1.  I use an old rectangular framed bulletin board as my puzzle board.  It's large enough for every 1,000 piece puzzle I've ever done.  It can be set on a table, coffee table, couch, or wherever you like to do puzzles.  I even set it in my lap a lot when I'm sitting on the couch.  Then when the kids wake up or company comes over, I can easily move the board to another room.

2.  When I am ready to put away a completed puzzle, I always remove the edge pieces first and put them in a sandwich baggie.  That way if I ever want to do that puzzle again (I actually rarely repeat a puzzle), I already have the pieces sorted.  I really don't enjoy finding all the edge pieces, and I certainly don't want to repeat the process if I don't have to.

Anyone want to trade used puzzles with me?  :)

Jessica