Adding to what Aimee posted on puzzles

I read this in the local paper today and thought it goes along well with what Aimee had posted the other day.

Letting the Healing begin }

u Jigsaw puzzles prized on dark, wintry days in upper valley

J O Y C E E D L E F S E N j e d l e f s e n @ u v s j . c o m


When was the last time you heard a video game promise to quiet your mind, unlock your creativity and rewire you mind to make connections?
That’s the promise on the box of one of the most tradition forms of entertainment for long winter nights in the upper valley – jigsaw puzzles.
Folks who “put on a puzzle at Christmas” can’t remember when they didn’t. And their reasons for pulling out a puzzle for family entertainment rather than an electronic game may be based as much on personal taste and history as it is on tradition.
Janet Craven of St. Anthony likes to put on a hard puzzle. “It’s challenging and relaxing,” she said. She works on puzzles mostly in the winter, she said, “because I’m stuck in the house in the dark.”
While she is laboring over hundreds of similarly shaped pieces, trying to at least get the edge completed, she may feel alone. But she’s not.
There are puzzle organizations, puzzle competitions and puzzle Web sites.
The creator of one such site, www.jigway-puzzle.org, a man named Don McAdam, attempts to describe who puts puzzles together and why, as well as provide a brief jigsaw puzzle history. His organization is the American Jigsaw Puzzle Society.
McAdam divides puzzle enthusiasts into three groups. He calls them the truly dedicated, the regular enthusiasts and the casual hobbyists who get a puzzle as a gift or buy one on impulse.
Puzzle people usually start off as casual users, but some eventually become the truly addicted.
Jane Daniels of Ashton admits she was close to the truly dedicated category at the peak of her puzzle habit.
“I have one up now,” says Daniels, who oversees the Ashton Archives.
“It’s a Christmas tree, probably a thousand-piece one.”
She enjoys the hobby, but health issues have slowed down her puzzle acumen.
“I used to be able to a 1,000 piece in no time,” she said. What once took her a day now takes a week or more.
Once the allure of puzzle solving was the challenge to complete them in speedy time. Now she does them more for the pleasure and the relaxation they bring.
She credits four wooden puzzles she had when she was about 7 for getting her started on the puzzle habit.
“They had 20 or 30 pieces. My dad had cut them out of wood with a coping saw during the Depression. I treasured them, but I wore them out.”
She has received and solved some interesting puzzles through the years.
“I had a friend give me a puzzle that was completely silver,” she said. “I solved it but when I was done I never wanted to see that thing again.”
Another puzzle, of a Siberian husky, she found at a garage sale. “It was shaped like the dog,” she said. “I really enjoyed doing it. I put it together three times.”
Another time a friend gave her a 3-D puzzle of a castle that was particularly challenging. “It was really a challenge just to get it to stick together.”
Daniels recognizes, however, that solving jigsaw puzzles is a hobby that can “outgrow you and your house” if you aren’t careful.
It takes up space in your schedule and your mind.
“Just like duplicate bridge, it’s a wonderful way to spend time,” she said. “But you can’t let it take over your time.”


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JOYCE EDLEFSEN/Standard Journal
Anyone can tell you — even 6-year-olds — that the edges of a puzzle are the easiest. This beauty, called ‘Amitabha Buddha’ is a 513-piece jigsaw puzzle from a company that describes itself as “Connections Jigsaw Puzzles for Healing. The edges are done. Now the real healing has begun.