Winter self torture

Steve knows how picky (and wimpy) I am about jigsaw puzzles. I refuse to even try puzzles with weird shapes or large patches of single-colors. It’s supposed to be fun, not work, right?

But I saw a photo on Instagram of a completed puzzle with a retro-stylized look, and I was instantly hooked. I had to find it.

I asked ChatGPT to find it from the photo, and it was useless. (“Here are some other chalet-themed puzzles”…)

I didn’t give up, and after many Internet searches, I found it! It was a discontinued puzzle from New York Puzzle Company. Its website said “Discontinued, Out of Stock”. I found it for sale on a semi-sketchy commerce site, but after a recent experience with Etsy and surprise after-the-fact tariff bills (story for another day) I am particularly avoidant of international orders. There was a used copy in Ebay for $52, too much.

Then oddly I found it right on Walmart.com! This result widely buried in the results. But it worked (and was actually fulfilled directly from the original New York Puzzle Co after all! E-commerce is very confusing.

But not as confusing as the puzzle itself! It is absolutely gorgeous, incredible quality, love the design. But the pieces are absolutely psychotic! The colors are also subtle and the drawing itself has very blurred, colored pencil-style edges, also making it harder.

But I am pushing through! I separated out the red, darkest blue, and “people” pieces and am jumping in! Hopefully I can finish before winter. It is definitely the hardest puzzle I have ever inflicted on myself, but I need to keep my brain busy!