Royal wedding jigsaw now on sale

For £30, people can buy a 250-piece jigsaw to commemorate next month's big day.

The internet store for Highgrove, the heir to the throne's Gloucestershire home, is advertising the puzzle, entitled Catherine & William Engagement Jigsaw, for £29.95.

It is being advertised as "a finely cut wooden jigsaw featuring unique Wentworth 'whimsy' pieces showing the engagement photograph of HRH Prince William and Catherine Middleton".

The puzzle depicts Catherine Middleton in her blue Issa dress and wearing Princess Diana's sapphire ring, while Prince William smiles proudly alongside her on the 14in by 10in puzzle.

Ravensburger's 32,000 piece jigsaw!

Ravensburger Australia are about to release the worlds largest jigsaw 32,000 pieces -called Double Retrospect artwork by Kieth Haring. Educa held the record for the largest commercially available jigsaw puzzle with Life 24000 pieces. But now Ravensburger strikes back! I don't think the image of 32 blocks of symbols has quite the same apppeal to me as the Royce McClure artwork in 'Life', but then if you are a puzzler, and you're up for the challenge... The finished size is 544 x 172 cms! Watch this utube video of its production - fascinating! Or click here to see another video of it.
Leave a comment to tell us what you think of the new puzzle.

Hold a puzzle party!

Bring your jigsaw loving friends together for an evening of fun and laughter.A little careful planning and everyone will have such a great night they will be asking you when is the next one! Everyone will just love doing the puzzle, chatting and catching up, and of course your hospitality.

•Firstly choose your puzzle. This may be one that suits the theme of your party, or may suit the time of the year - Spring, Christmas, Easter. Check out our website for ideas.

•Set aside a large table with excellent lighting

•Prepare non greasy snacks, and drinks

•Have background music to match your theme

•Send invitations in plenty of time

•Sit back and enjoy yourself

•The finished puzzle could be donated to a local charity, or raffled

New Shaped puzzles!

We have a new shipment of beautiful shaped jigsaws from Sunsout. Visit our website to see the full range.

Tutankhamen jigsaw

We don't have the smallest jigsaw, but we certainly do have a standard 1000 piece jigsaw of Tutankhamen. Its a delight to do, with lots of images around the outside to add interest. See the detailshere

How small is the smallest jigsaw puzzle?

Along the same theme, how small is the smallest jigsaw?
Small can mean many things, but one candidate is “King Tut,” a wooden puzzle, approximately 6.55cm x 5.5cm, made by KARNAN, in Sweden that has about 90 pieces.

How old is the oldest jigsaw puzzle?

This is a question I was asked recently, which set me to doing some research...
The Oldest Jigsaws, or dissected puzzles as they were then called, were the dissected maps made by John Spilsbury, map maker and owner of a print shop in Russell Court, London. He was born in Worcester in 1739 and Linda Hannas' book ' The English Jigsaw Puzzle 1760-1890' gives a detailed account of his life.

In 1785 John Wallis published the first really light hearted puzzle 'John Gilpin ' an illustration of William Cowpers ballad.

In 1787 William Darton was the first to dissect a chronological table of English Sovereigns with the grand title 'Engravings for Teaching the Elements of English History and Chronology after the manner of Dissected Maps for Teaching Geography.' The puzzle was as boring as the title, and the next year his rival and neighbor, John Wallis produced a lighter version that went on selling for the next ten years.

I'd love to hear from you if you can add any further thought to this discussion.