"Is a puzzlement"

Do you know what musical the subject line is from? 

While I was preparing for the new release (do you have your copy of HORNED OWL HOLLOW yet?), I downloaded a jigsaw puzzle app to relax with. I grew up putting jigsaw puzzles together, as well as doing word puzzles (Wordle, anyone?) with my mother. Which brings me to my latest endeavor - making my own puzzles!

I've added puzzles to a site called Jigsaw Planet. They're jigsaw puzzles you can assemble online. Most of my puzzles are right around 100 pieces, but there's an option to make them more (or less) challenging by clicking on the "Play As" button. If you have an account (and you don't need one to play), you can set it so the picture stays up for you to reference, or set a "ghost" picture to follow while you assemble. You can also set the transparency of the "ghost" so its brighter or more faded, and you can set the size of the reference picture to be bigger or smaller. The puzzle pieces line up on the sides, and like you would with a table, you can move the pieces around to find the ones you want. Edges first? Or sort by color? Or maybe by shape?

On the downside, when I first visited the site, I was using my iPad, and I was going nuts with the dragging and dropping. It also didn't respond quickly. However, when I was able to use my mouse to move pieces rather than my finger, things worked much more smoothly. 

The game allows you to "arrange" or "disarrange" the pieces, which will "unstack" them so you can see each piece more clearly (or just move them out of your way).

It was a fun diversion for a few hours, and in this particular program, you can "race" other puzzlers to see who can finish the puzzles the fastest. It shows which users have completed the puzzles and their time. 

Click here to see my puzzles!

But you won't have time to do puzzles. You'll be too busy reading HORNED OWL HOLLOW, right? 😉

Are you a puzzler?