Jigsaw puzzle crimes

[Rinceyourrice]

I am a member of a jigsaw puzzle library. I borrow 2 or 3 puzzles every month and always have one on the go.

I don't mind the odd missing piece. I don't condone separating the edge pieces and putting them in a little ziplock bag, but I can live with it.

But the following are CRIMES and should result in arrest and jail:

1. Separating the puzzle in half!! Left half (edge pieces and all) in one bag and right half in another. What?? Stop that.

1. Not properly breaking up your puzzle and putting massive complete chunks back in the box. Jail. Immediately jail.

I developed a serious jigsaw habit during the pandemic and love doing them. I buy and sell most of mine on Vinted.

You've already mentioned some of my pet hates upthread but I also dislike portrait style rather than landscape doesn't fit my board when its on the kitchen island. Puzzles that have a sheen finish which makes it difficult to see properly under lights. Not having a separate printed picture and having to rely on just the lid.

I guess people who separate the edges into their own bag are assuming that if you don't like the edges separated it's really not that difficult just to mix them in before you start... but then you'd have to immediately start separating them again, which would seem weird and somehow far less satisfying than just starting from that point (not really sure why, it just would).

I'd be inclined to assume anyone who put the pieces into two bags divided by left and right sides of the puzzle was surely some sort of serial killer. Deranged behaviour.

My pet jigsaw hate is when the pieces are starting to fray or crumple at the edges. Depressing.

I hate sorting out the edge pieces before I start the puzzle and put them in a plastic ziplock bag when I finish and pack away. Sorry! But I'm not part of a puzzle group so just me for when I do it again 😁

My niece's partner mixed 2 Christmas wasgijs together but he's a psychopath.

I LOVE jigsaws, particularly the Wasgij ones. I'm in the middle of one at the moment. It's such a challenge not having a picture to follow (for the uninitiated, the picture on the box may have only the slightest relevance as the puzzle itself could be what happened next, imagine the scene in the future or sometimes you're puzzling what one of the people in the box picture is seeing from their vantage point. They're crazy, but really good. I tend to keep my jigsaws stored away and I'll do them again in the future.

I also have a cat who likes to help. An hour ago she was laying right across the board with the loose pieces. Every time she stretched my carefully organised pieces went flying.

Off to Google whether there's a library in my area.

I'm not saying the volunteers should complete each puzzle! I'm saying the people who donate them should write on the box of there is a piece missing and then the charity shop know about it and can price it more accordingly. Also that if a puzzle isn't verified to be complete it should also be priced accordingly.

I would love to volunteer to do puzzles for a charity shop and then I could label them as complete or missing pieces. I do a 500 piece puzzle most days so go through a lot of them!

MIL did this, when she was working at a charity shop. Not for everyone I guess!

But it's not realistic to expect donors to do it either, that would mean redoing every puzzle before taking it to the charity shop. Even then, you might complete it, put it back in the box but accidentally knock a piece under the sofa.

Part of getting a puzzle second hand is the risk that pieces might be missing. I sold a puzzle on Vinted and I got a message asking me if there were any missing pieces. All I could say is that they were all there when I completed it, and the pieces have been in a sealed ziplock bag in the box since, but I can’t discount the fact that some might have gone missing when packing away. It happens. New puzzles also don’t necessarily mean that the puzzle isn’t missing pieces either. I’ve had puzzles come with missing pieces or extra pieces before. If it’s new you have more options with the manufacturer to get the pieces or a new puzzle but that’s still annoying to have to go through

My mum separates the edge pieces in a bag. Aiding and abetting the next puzzler in FILTHY CHEATING.