To assume nice, normal reasonable people look at the box when doing a jigsaw puzzle?

[SkippyDies]

Following a post on FB yesterday when I revealed my new and most excellent jigsaw puzzle assembly command station, a friend, possibly an ex-friend now commented with surprise and alarm about the presence of the jigsaw puzzle box in my photos.

To my own surprise and alarm apparently looking at the box is cheating.

She and her family look at the box briefly before starting and then put it away. They jigsaw blind.

I’m very surprised that this is considered to be normal behaviour.

She did a poll on FB but it’s not really valid is it, what with her friends list containing a cohort of weird non-boxers. It’s a family thing apparently.

Maybe mn can help clarify that she is a giant freak.

YANBU = I look at the box
YABU = I do my jigsaws blind

I always look at the box and it wouldn't occur to me not to.

However neither of my children have ever looked at the box. When I started doing jigsaws with them they were baffled by my advice - look at the picture, set the picture the right way up, look for the corners, straight edges in traditional puzzles etc. It made me question my approach and the need to offer them my "advice". Their approach (putting shapes and pictures together) works just as well up to around 500 pieces.

Depends. New puzzle? Yes I look at the box, usually starting with the edges. Puzzle I’ve made a few times? Nah, dump all the pieces on the board and leave the box on the floor. That’s the only way to keep a puzzle interesting once I’ve made it a few hundred times and am too broke to buy a new one.

Last family get together I opened a charity shop 2,000 piece Jigsaw and set about sorting out colour piles and edge pieces. There was NOT ONE SINGLE edge piece in the box. Someone must have put them in separate bag after completing and not out back in box. It was very very weird having to find a different way to do it but we got there. At times there were 5 or 6 of us working on different areas. We would take a photo of'our patch' on our own mobile and work from that so box picture not fought over. That was a revolutionary idea to me!!

my greatest sadness at present is that I work for NHS and am working longer hours than ever. I know if I start a jigsaw I will not get any of my weekend Jobs done so am resisting the temptation at present. I will take a jigsaw holiday once all my team regroup after self isolating etc

If she'a doing 50 piece wooden jigsaws then that's not unreasonable. If she's a hard core 1500 piece-r then she def has to look at box. I copy the pic off the box so DH and I have one each. Then we work from opposite ends (as in all else in our life together).

Depends what mood I'm in, but generally get more enjoyment out of doing it without the picture. Love Was-jigs for their bright colours & simplicity, but generally prefer more difficult ones...though the light these days isn't what it used to be 😉

Your friend sounds nice 🌷

I look at the box.

But as jigsaws are done for fun and relaxation, surely it’s just down to personal preference? I can see how someone who was a hardcore jigsaw expert might do it without the picture for an added challenge 🤷‍♀️

I'm having a go at two mixed together by accident. A few pieces crossed from one to the other. 1000 and 2000. .

I look at the box because I’m normal. Currently, it’s not helping, the picture is a painting of different animals and the colours don’t match those on the box very well! Frustrated.

maybe the piece is supposed to be missing and if she had looked properly at the box it would be shown. Or not shown.

Yabvu!!! Surely part of the fun is finding out what the picture is?

i havent done a jigsaw for a very long time,
i obtained one recently from a colleague giving them away but have yet to summon up the will,
i shall be looking at the picture, daft not to imo

Your friend comes from a strange family!

I told dh and ds I had a puzzle, and they were puzzled, They Did not have a clue what a puzzle was

Extreme jigsaw-ing? Looking at the box is cheating, ? Now I've heard everything. I think I've reached #peaklockdown

Ha ha I would look at the box for the picture. However have just completed a wasgij and it was so hard! The picture on the box differs from the picture 😂😂🤦🏻‍♀️

@Who1 I think I’m having a panic attack just thinking about this.

My 12 yo is autistic. He loves puzzles.

He doesnt use the box for the whole thing but will refer to it if stuck not because its cheating humor anything though. He does put all the pieces of the same colour into clear food bags first which is quite funny . Always does the edges first and he can't move on till hes finished each section even if theres just one piece missing.

OMG @Who1 😱
So you have two tainted puzzles? Is it very obvious when you discover a rogue piece?
It’s a brave person indeed who goes ahead with such an ambitious project.
Tbh the thought of it is giving me the willies.

I think using the box is normal.

at the jigsaw with no edges!

@SkippyDies
Yes two.....there's a mix of just a handful of pieces between a 2000 and 1000. Anyway I've started with the 1000 .

Definitely look at the box, currently doing on of thse impossible puzzles, so look less at the box and more at the shape and pattern on each piece.

I have done a jigsaw without a picture. There wasn't one, it was a cludeo type puzzle. Came with a story about what had happened (unresolved) then you had to do the jigsaw and the look for clues to solve it. Doing the jigsaw without the picture wasn't as hard as you might think (took longer though I reckon!!)

YANBU. Although I always leave the edge pieces until last, so what would I know?

They have Lord of the Rings puzzles? Starts googling Lord of the Rings puzzles