A jigsaw of two halves

Last weekend I decided to get started on the next jigsaw. Bare in mind that I had plenty of time as it was the weekend with nothing pressing needing to be done and we were both still full of cold so didn’t feel like doing much.

As always I sorted out the straight bits and got the outside edge completed. This was relatively easy and I wondered if this puzzle was going to be too easy. It had five hundred pieces so is only half the size of the vintage car jigsaw.

I started with the vintage car on the bottom left of the photo.

At this stage there was plenty of variety and it was still fairly easy and came together quite quickly.

I was about to start the tree at the top right of the jigsaw when I realised that the top edge wasn’t right. The bits all fitted perfectly but it wasn’t right. There were bits of sky in the wrong place. If you look closely at the top edge of the photo above and the photo below you can just see it isn’t quite right.

I actually spent quite a while rearranging the top edge until I had it right. The photo above was as far as I had got by the second day except that I had rearranged the top edge correctly. I had spent so long getting the top edge right that I had had enough for now.

The tree at the top of the jigsaw was really difficult as bits would fit and then I would realise that they were wrong. Every time I had almost completed this top tree the last couple of pieces wouldn’t fit. I would have to keep taking it apart and trying the pieces in different places until finally they fitted.

Finally I had got the top tree completed and now all that was left was the bottom tree. Like the sprout jigsaw all the remaining pieces looked the same. Also like the sprout jigsaw a lot of pieces were the same shape and so pieces would fit but not be correct. As it was a better quality than the sprout jigsaw the wrong pieces fitted easily in the wrong place.

It became every bit as frustrating as the sprout jigsaw. This is why I called it a jigsaw of two halves. The first half was fairly easy but this second half was as difficult as the sprouts were.

There was also one piece missing despite the jigsaw never having been opened before. If you look carefully at the bottom left of the above photo there is a piece of brick wall missing just above the right wing of the car, or left wing facing.

The progress on this tree was even slower and I would get just a few pieces in at a time. Time and again I would fit a few pieces only to then take them out again. When I finally got down to the last six pieces it was still really difficult and I would try each piece in each space several times before finding a piece that fitted correctly.

Then there came a point that I have never got to with a jigsaw before. I had one piece left and it didn’t fit. I have never got to the last piece before only to find it didn’t fit. It would fit but wasn’t right as it was in the middle of the tree but had a bit of outside sky on it. I traced around the edge of the tree several times. Eventually I spotted a piece on the left edge of the tree that could have a bit of sky. I switched two pieces, one from the edge of the tree and one from inside the tree and bingo! It fitted.

Hurrah! At last it was finished. I have never come across a jigsaw so different in different parts. This one took me three days compared to the five days of the vintage cars but had half the number of pieces and I spent longer spells on it. From starting out easy it got progressively more difficult.

The vintage cars jigsaw was by far the most enjoyable. This one ended up being very annoying.

I hope the next jigsaw is more enjoyable.