Jigsaw puzzle boom – why adults like me are hooked again

CAST your mind back to March 2020. Faced with the prospect of an indeterminate government-imposed period of solitary confinement due to Covid, you did one of two things – you either bought a dog or a jigsaw.

The result of this is that half the population now own a dog and charity shops experienced a boom in the sale and return of jigsaws.

As I had no desire to turn out in the rain and cold to swing a bag of poo from my arm on a half hour walk, I turned to little pieces of funny- shaped printed card which all fit together to eventually create a lovely picture.

Although the rising costs of jigsaws has its own parallels with the rising costs of owning a pet, eventually you become what my wife and I have become – addicts. Yes I admit it – I’m a jigsaw freak with one in various stages of completeness on our dining table every day of the week.

Jigsaws have been around in one form or another since 1760, offering countless generations a way of relaxing the mind and filling their leisure time.

Invented by John Spilsbury in London, the first puzzle was a map glued to a flat piece of wood and then cut up so it could be reassembled as a teaching aid.

And I remember one of the first jigsaws I ever did in the sixties was a picture of the British Isles with little lozenge-shaped gaps where you inserted the names of towns and cities.

In the 21st century puzzles have been developed into an art form. You can get circular jigsaws, ones with specially shaped pieces resembling cats and dogs, 3D jigsaws which enable you to build an object such as Big Ben, jigsaw programmes on your computer or smartphone, and they have even strayed into the rock and pop world with a 3D world globe featuring on the cover of The Seahorses No 2 album, created by the guitarist John Squire. However there seems to be a big gap in the market as not many jigsaw designs appeal to young people, although a quick trawl on Google and Ebay reveal quite a few Taylor Swift designs.!

It’s certainly true that the older generation tend to drive the sales of jigsaws. With more time on their hands and a need to keep their minds active, plus a winter pastime which doesn’t involve much movement, jigsaws are ideal. But there is much more to it than that! There is a whole science and psychological background to puzzling and just “doing a jigsaw” doesn’t even scratch the surface!

Take my own experience. Good jigsaws now cost upwards of £15, so it’s no surprise to find that second-hand puzzles are flourishing in charity shops, or that places like The Works are shifting cut-price versions by the bag-load.

Everyone has their own way of doing them and my wife and I extract maximum value from each thousand piece one by dividing the picture in half and effectively completing a five hundred piece puzzle each day. And our brains are wired differently – some people separate all the different colours, some the different shapes, some the straight edges and some just connect random areas – the beauty of a puzzle is that there is no set procedure or right and wrong way.

You can hunt for used Jigsaw puzzles in charity shops

In our house, here’s how it works. First you buy your nice new puzzle or your charity shop bargain. Most charity shops now have their own quality control and tattered faded unsealed boxes with dubious chances of being complete usually don’t make it to the shelves.

I avoid puzzles that are monotonous – a three foot by two foot picture of a thousand baked beans or a geometric pattern leaves me cold. Likewise trains, planes, machinery or twee fluffy kittens although I appreciate they have their fans and everyone’s tastes are different. An incredible array of talented artists have their work turned into jigsaws and it’s rewarding to see that picture gradually appear in front of you as you complete the puzzle.

Jigsaw puzzle boom: why adults are hooked again

On getting the box home, if it is second hand, you can immediately tell if another fan has had it before you – the inner bag is sealed and intact, the pieces are broken up properly and even in some cases the straight edges have been separated and are in a bag of their own. We are lucky enough to have a large dining table, so the pieces are tipped out and the edge pieces separated first. To make things equal, we count 13 down one side and 12 down the other.

Every other piece is turned face up. Now we get to the science of brain function! I prefer to start with block colour, usually sky, working from one corner to another in a regimented way. My wife will pick a person in a blue coat or a green car or a flower bed and complete them on the side before adding them in later. She also checks each piece against its place in the picture and puts it in its approximate position on the table. It’s no secret that we race each other – however even though we do things differently we usually finish about the same time.

John Fletcher explains why he is addicted to jigsaws

But one of the biggest advantages of a jigsaw is its therapeutic value. You are totally “ in the zone” as you search for that elusive piece. You don’t think about bills, housework, that leaking tap or the fact that the grass needs cutting!

You are completely focussed on finding that small section with “a bit of green and a white patch” and there are maybe three disappointments before that tiny adrenaline rush of fitting in the correct one. You need that little rush, and you get it a thousand times by completing the picture – that’s why they are so addictive.

John Fletcher explains why he is addicted to jigsaws

There are downsides of course – having that fix nine hundred and ninety nine times and finding a piece is missing is a huge let down. All is not lost however. I keep a stock of various thicknesses of card and once a puzzle is complete I slip a paper underneath, make a pattern, cut the shape out on card with a craft knife, fit it, and then colour it in to match its surroundings. I always put a note in for the next recipient to say there is a homemade piece, but better that than the crushing disappointment of hours spent on an incomplete puzzle.

What about meal times I hear you ask? True addicts don’t let eating get in the way of puzzle completion – the plate goes on top of the pieces and we carry on. Family coming? No problem. A cloth on the top of the table does the trick, although the grandchildren wonder why their drink glasses seem to be all wobbly!