You want to put a jigsaw puzzle? You can read tips on how to do this as quickly as possible here. The tips are as follows to complete a puzzle in the fastest possible time. This tactic always works well if you want to complete a puzzle in the shortest possible time. And how do I know? They are the tips of a former winner of the Dutch National Championships puzzles, so he or she should know 🙂 How do I always do it myself? I always start by laying the edges and don't sort the pieces. I don't care about puzzling as quickly as possible. But I also see on various forums that a lot of people sort puzzle pieces. Everyone puzzles differently…..
Step 0 = Look at the picture on the box
This is really a golden tip that I have experienced myself that it works! I'm making about three years now Jan van Haasteren puzzles. All these years I kept track of how long it took me to complete a puzzle of 1000 pieces. And that was often between 6-8 hours. More often 8 hours than 6 hours. However, I went to do the same puzzle for the second time, namely the 'I Spy USA' variant of the Jan van Haasteren USA. So I made the USA puzzle for the second time. Wasn't really happy about that though. However: I then noticed that I made this puzzle very quickly. It took me 4 hours and 25 minutes. Why? Because I knew exactly where which pieces had to go on the puzzle and which pieces belonged together – these pieces form 'the red sports car', for example. I knew the buildings and/or people and/or the situations on the puzzle. So my puzzle tip is – first look at the image for a few minutes, make sure you have a good idea of what is happening on the puzzle and only then start putting the puzzle together. I know that this works with the Jan van Haasteren puzzles, I don't know if this also applies to the 'simpler' puzzles where there are fewer scenes.
Step 1 = Sort Puzzle Pieces
It works best to first sort the pieces properly instead of immediately starting to lay them. You will win back the time twice over later, because you have to search much less. If you then look for a matching color for a piece, you know exactly in which group this piece belongs. So you have to search in a much smaller number of pieces than if you have not sorted pieces – then you have to search between all 1000 pieces.
– First sort your pieces by color (divide into about 6 groups)
You can often recognize larger areas of the same color or, for example, certain images that match in color. If you use a puzzle mat you can just make this sorting on your puzzle mat, for example like this:
Or you can use sorting bins:
Or you use trays for this. For example, sorting using trays in 6 groups by color:
Whether you use Ikea cutlery trays which are also very useful:
– Remove the borders when you sort by color
Here's the big time-saver when you're sorting by color: you immediately remove the edge pieces. Put these edge pieces all together in a pile. And if you find the corner pieces, put those 4 together right away. After sorting, you start by laying the corner pieces and then the edges.
– Sort the pieces within the 6 groups according to images and/or figures as much as possible
If you now have approximately 6 groups, you make the fastest move by putting pieces together again within such a group in terms of color or image. For example, a car that is completely bright yellow. These bright yellow pieces are in the group with 'yellow pieces' and you can then put these bright yellow pieces of the car back together within the yellow group. As you read below, if you immediately see that pieces fit together, then you put the pieces together within the group. This is a nice transition to the next step, which is 'Laying the pieces'.
Step 2 = Laying the Pieces
– If pieces fit together within the group, record them
This has already been described above, as soon as you see that pieces fit together, always lay!
– Start laying the corner pieces
Then you take your 4 corner pieces that you already collected. Take a good look at the box to see which corner piece will be placed where and place it in advance.
– Then lay the rest of the edges
As an example the puzzle below of the Christmas tree market by Jan van Haasteren, that's how I always puzzle, don't sort pieces by color, but first the corner pieces and edges:
Here too it is useful to make a quick sorting of the edge pieces up/down/left/right of the puzzle. Blue sky is basically always above 🙂 More tips, specifically how to quickly lay the blue sky. Sea or grass or shrubs are often at the bottom, and houses, for example, are often on the left and/or right side of the puzzle. Also take a good look at the box of the puzzle.
What sometimes happens is that part of the puzzle consists of a surface consisting of 1 color. How do you handle that? This often costs you a lot of time and is sometimes even annoying puzzling! I have devised a handy method for this that will certainly help you and which will allow you to start puzzling faster. In my example I will show you how to place a part of a puzzle that consists entirely of only white puzzle pieces.
– An image or figure that fits the edge
It then lays the fastest when the edges lie and you place images or figures or objects that fit the edges. You can also look very closely at the different color groups that you have. For example this puzzle, you start laying on the edges and you are the first to place a number of cars by color:
– And the rest of the puzzle!
And you keep laying until you've completed the rest of the puzzle as well! You then have a fantastic end result, and what I always do myself is that I go over the entire puzzle with my hand. No idea why, but that's always something I do! You have often spent a lot of puzzle hours on it and you are 'proud' of your end result. For example, it would look like this (Round Texel by jan van Haasteren, 1 of my favorites):
What are other puzzle strategies?
I've called it puzzle strategies here, but you have to confess that I don't have a strategy, I'm just going to puzzle and lay out the pieces on a puzzle mat like this:
You see, I don't really sort myself and certainly not in color. Always start with the corner pieces and then the edges, as you can see in the image below:
But there are also times when you just want to sort your puzzle very neatly, something like:
I once collected several possibilities on the internet that I could find, how people start puzzling. I've been able to find the following as 'start strategies':
“We first do the edges, then the inside, I first make striking things and so it comes closer together”
“We first turn everything around, sort it by color, set the edges aside. Then it will work itself out”
“Sorting colours, People and nature like trees, shrubs separately”
“I do the edges first”
“I never start with the outside, look on the top half of the puzzle at color surfaces, roof, tree, sky, I first put them up to the edge. Then again large surfaces downwards. But it also depends on the puzzle”
“First place in containers according to color and indeed first make large recognizable items”
“I start with several containers and take a good look at what you see on the puzzle. Then at the same time as sorting out the edges I also sort eg cars, sky, trees, houses, or whatever is clearly recognizable. So I sort everything in 1x, after that I can do wonderful puzzles and I don't really want to look at the lid anymore, but I puzzle based on what's in the trays.”
“It's very personal. I look at the box myself for a few minutes, then turn around and then sometimes find things together while turning. First the most striking colors, then when I get stuck only the edge. Then you go through the pieces again and sometimes you see things that you couldn't find before.”
“I always do the outside first. And then the colors together”
“I always puzzle out of the box first I put the edge work from the outside in”
“I put the edge first, and I have boxes and I pick out the colors, and then I puzzle how it suits me and sometimes the big things first and so it fills up more and more”
“I'll start with the edge. After that I will look for figures and the like.”
“First the edge and then I divide the puzzle into four.”
“Select by color and make those pieces first.”
“First I start with the edge, then with 1 color and then continue in this way and do not puzzle too long in succession, just doing some laundry in between, for example, it already works to see new pieces afterwards”
“Lines and surfaces, for example, arcs, rope, etc., because of this you get distribution. And ID by color or structure e.g. stones wood grass trees, faces hands .. and I also do edges first”
“First, keep the edge separate. He will adapt on his own. If you put the edge down first, it always breaks in my experience, with your arm along it and then it is broken again. And I look for everything by color and then you suddenly see that it fits together”
“I puzzle from the box. I keep side pieces separately and then puzzle per “object”. On the last the side pieces, otherwise it will always break.”
“I always start with the outer edge and then I continue to puzzle from the box. First the large objects, then, for example, the dolls and so on”
"I sort the colors and headlines before I start. But I start with the edge"
“I start with the edge, then I first look for all the heads, all the animals and separate things.”
“First the edges, and then just start”
“First put the edge together, then lay everything according to color as much as possible. For that you have to pay close attention to the example. Then put all the faces together. Then put the three legs and four legs etc. together. That way you have some guidance on where to look. Keep the pieces together for as long as you can and you will notice that things get better.”
You are done with quickly laying your puzzle, what do you do with a puzzle that is ready?
Well, you have put your puzzle together with blood, sweat and tears. What are you going to do with your puzzle now? Frame it, immediately clean it up, take a picture and share it and………I made a page for this, where you can get all kinds of ideas 'what you can do now with a finished puzzle'.
How long does a 1000 piece puzzle take?
If you are going to start with a 1000 piece puzzle – which are the most commonly made puzzles – I have also given you an idea of how long it can take you to complete a 1000 piece puzzle. I can already tell you, on a Jan van Haasteren puzzle of 1000 pieces I take an average of 8 hours. But there are also people who do it in 4 hours and there are even people who put together a 1000 piece puzzle in 2 hours and 3 minutes. Who are those? Read 'How long does a 1000 piece puzzle take?'
How many side pieces does a 1000 piece puzzle have
This is often a 'know' question. Even if you have put the puzzle, it is still difficult to answer. It is something with corners and side pieces. Is a corner piece also an edge piece, and don't you count twice? If you also start working with the 1500 pieces, how many side pieces does that puzzle have? Read my page about 'How many side pieces does a 1000 piece puzzle have', and you'll get your answer right away!