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A14 PEOPLE / ARTS
Wednesday 16 november 2022
Twists, themes, sound effects: Jigsaw puzzles for all ages

By KIM COOK life of moody flower heads
Associated Press gets a soulful, jazz-tinged
Jigsaw puzzlers found their playlist. One new one,
happy place, and their Apres Ski, features ‘80s-era
people, during the pan- alpine gear, a fondue pot
demic. Puzzling was al- and a snowy alpine back-
ready a thing, but soon drop. The playlist has a lot
more groups formed on of Tears for Fears, TOTO,
social media, while popular Flock of Seagulls and similar
puzzles disappeared quick- music to help set the Euro
ly from online and actual disco vibe.
shelves. To create a personalized
Sales for one big puzzle puzzle, using your own pho-
maker, Ravensburger, This combination of images shows a variety of personalized puzzles offered by Minted. tos, try Minted. There are
Associated Press
soared 370% year over year square and heart-shaped
in the first couple of weeks ture the result. Call it piec- turing midcentury holiday Puzzle lovers Jena Wolfe layouts, and it’s a nice way
of lockdown in 2020. ing together some personal imagery. and Rachel Hochhauser, to celebrate family mem-
Inventories have mostly re- peace; puzzle therapy. And the retailer offers a col- colleagues at a Los Ange- bers or a great vacation.
covered, although there SPECIAL INTERESTS lection of dynamic, artsy les creative agency, start- For those planning a wed-
are still “sold out” tags One-thousand piece puz- jigsaws from Puzzles of Col- ed the online shop Piece- ding, there are sweet little
on some sites. And even zles are perfect for con- or, a company started by work a few years ago. They “reveal” puzzles in which
though many people have fident puzzlers like Janet Texas siblings Ericka Cham- came up with the idea af- you can ask the recipient
returned to pre-lockdown Rosen, a lawyer in Evan- bers and William Jones to ter Hochhauser was stuck to be a bridesmaid, ring
life, the love of jigsaw puz- ston, Illinois, who loved promote artists of color. The during bad weather in a bearer or other participant.
zles stuck around. We’re puzzling as a child and got puzzles are standard sizes Yosemite rental cabin, and YOUNGER KIDS
still sorting and assembling, back into it during the pan- when finished, so you can passed the time with a The folks at childrens’ toy
and getting that little kick demic. A gardener and easily frame and display bunch of dusty old jigsaw company Melissa & Doug
when we successfully place reader, she was happy to them. Some puzzlers like to puzzles she found in a cup- have boxed sets of wood-
a piece. Puzzle pros say as- receive a couple of hand- sort by separating piece board. en puzzles marked for ages
sembling the border is the me-down puzzles from a shapes. If that’s you, you’ll They wanted to design 3 and up. Choose from four
best way to start. Then sort friend: one of vintage gar- have fun with the lineup eye-catching and satisfy- dinosaurs or four household
by color, pattern and, in dening books, by Ravens- from Magic Puzzle Compa- ing thematic puzzles where pets; the lid serves as an
really big puzzles, section. burger, another of classic ny, a company kickstarted the art takes center stage. assembling tray, and the
(At this year’s World Jigsaw British book covers. during the pandemic. The “We like to balance the wood box makes for easy
Puzzle Championship in “I like the challenge, and puzzles, set in scenes like components that make storage. The company’s
Spain, Alejandro Clemente the concrete method a magical maze, a sunny a great puzzle variation got jigsaws with sound ef-
completed a 500-piece of overcoming the chal- cityscape or an island par- in color, objects and tex- fects, too, to delight the lit-
puzzle in just over 34 min- lenge,” she says. adise, have surprise shapes tures,” Hochhauser says. tlest puzzlers. Choose from
utes. Most people take be- At SeriousPuzzles.com, like animals and clouds “We wanted to create jig- a farm, firehouse, zoo, or-
tween two and seven hours you’ll find Cavallini & Co’s amidst the regular pieces. saws that someone would chestra and more, includ-
on that size puzzle.) gorgeous vintage illustra- (Magic Puzzles also have a want to gift as a hostess ing licensed character tie-
This holiday season, in a tions of constellations, min- twist in each one, and with- present, or whip out after a ins.
world that seems anxious erals, jellyfish, mushrooms out giving too much away dinner party to work on dur- Large, colorful puzzles of
on many fronts, maybe a and other collections, of- let’s just say it involves a ing dessert.” the solar system or ocean
good gift would be a jigsaw fered in gift-worthy reus- separate bag of pieces Going a step further, the floor would be fun to as-
puzzle. A few hours can be able canisters. Also at the you aren’t meant to open duo even created Spo- semble: finished size is 2-by-
spent putting something to- site is a fun retro Christmas until you’ve completed the tify playlists to accompany 3 feet, and the 48 pieces
gether, with a beautiful pic- puzzle from Cobble Hill fea- main puzzle.) many of their puzzles. A still are big and sturdy. q

Jay Leno suffers burns in gasoline fire,

says he’s ‘OK’

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jay his famed car collection, longtime host Johnny Car-
Leno suffered “serious which is housed at a ga- son retired in 1992. Leno
burns” but said Monday rage in Burbank, north of was succeeded by Conan
that he was doing OK, ac- Los Angeles. O’Brien in 2009, but NBC
cording to reports. Leno, 72, had been set to got cold feet when the
“I got some serious burns appear at a financial con- show’s ratings dropped
from a gasoline fire,” Leno ference in Las Vegas on and brought Leno back as
said in a statement to The Sunday but canceled be- host in 2010.
Associated Press. cause of a “serious medi- He remained in the job un-
“I am ok. Just need a week cal emergency,” People til Jimmy Fallon took over in
or two to get back on my magazine reported earlier 2014. Leno turned his love
feet.” Monday, citing an email of cars into a CNBC series,
The cause and time of the sent to those attending the “Jay Leno’s Garage,” and
fire wasn’t immediately conference. now hosts a revival of the
clear. The former “Tonight The comedian took over game show “You Bet Your Jay Leno attends the Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane
Harvey Relief in Los Angeles on Sept. 12, 2017.
Show” host is known for NBC’s “Tonight” when Life.”q Associated Press