PRIZEPOOL
A jigsaw puzzle is relaxing, but staring at a pile of pieces that refuse to fit is not. The good news: fast puzzlers are not lucky, they follow a method. Here are 12 tips that work on a table and on a phone screen alike.
Getting started
1. Study the picture first
Spend half a minute looking at the full image before you touch a piece. Notice the big areas: a blue sky, a red boat, a block of text. Those areas become your mini puzzles later.
2. Build the edges
Edge pieces have one flat side, so they are the easiest to find. Pull them all out and build the frame. Once the border is done, you know the exact size of the puzzle and every other piece has a home.
3. Start with a small number of pieces
If you are new or just want to relax, a puzzle with fewer pieces is more fun than a 1,000-piece monster. Build confidence, then move up.
Sorting smarter
4. Group pieces by colour
Make small piles: all the sky, all the grass, all the faces. A big puzzle turns into several small ones, and each small one is far easier.
5. Then sort by shape
Inside a colour group, look at the tabs (the bits that stick out) and the blanks (the holes). A piece with two tabs and two blanks can only fit certain gaps. When colours all look the same, like a clear sky, shape is your best clue.
6. Look for details that break the pattern
A single line, a letter, a window or the edge of a shadow tells you exactly where a piece belongs. Place those "landmark" pieces early and build around them.
7. Work from high detail to low detail
Finish the busy, colourful parts first. Leave the plain areas, like sky and water, for last, when there are fewer pieces left and fewer places they could go.
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When you get stuck
8. Rotate the piece, not your head
Many pieces that "don't fit anywhere" are simply turned the wrong way. Try all four directions before you give up on a spot.
9. Fill one hole at a time
Pick one empty gap and test pieces only for that gap. It is slower for a minute and much faster overall than trying every piece everywhere.
10. Take a short break
Fresh eyes spot connections you missed. Many puzzlers find a piece they were hunting for within seconds of coming back.
Tips for puzzles on your phone
11. Use the tray and zoom
On a small screen, zoom in on the area you are working on and keep the rest of the pieces in the tray. You see more detail and make fewer mistakes.
12. Match the difficulty to your time
A small puzzle is perfect for a coffee break; a big one is a project for a quiet evening. In Jigsaw Puzzles HD you choose the number of pieces yourself, from 36 to 400+, so you can pick a puzzle that fits the time you have. With more than 5,000 HD pictures of nature, animals, art, landmarks and food, and offline play, there is always another one waiting.
Prefer a different kind of brain game? Spot HD Differences trains the same eye for detail, and 2248 is a calm number puzzle for fans of 2048.
