We are surrounded in life by universal truths. I'm talking about everyday beliefs that are believed in so strongly that questioning them seems wrong. I'm not talking about religion, but rather important things such as stepping on a crack and breaking your mother's back. Another one is having to put a jigsaw puzzle together by first completing the border. I suppose I like to question things.
Let's talk about jigsaw puzzle strategy. Before that, here are my credentials. I'm a self-declared jigsaw master. I have no data, no awards or really anything other than my own perception to support this claim. Nonetheless, I'm a master; trust me ;)
Five reasons you should adopt a more liberating strategy of puzzle solving.
- You stop wasting time looking for those hidden border pieces.
- Focusing on high contrast areas will sort and reduce the puzzle piece count quickly.
- You are easily able to move pieces/chunks in and out of the center of the puzzle.
- The border is easily solved as pieces are located. You can solve the border in parallel with the inside pieces.
- I am a puzzle master.
Just in case you are wondering how I solve a puzzle, I made a time lapse of me solving a relatively easy puzzle. You can see my strategy at work. Start with a clear workspace. As you turn over puzzle pieces, look for high contrast pieces that you know generally where they will go. Group those together in the general area that they will be placed in the final puzzle. For the others, group roughly by color. Then, work by selectively moving over various high contrast regions to dwindle down the piece count. This can include the border pieces, but you don't have to start there. Good luck!