Fitting tribute
IT’S NATIONAL JIGSAW DAY SO HERE’S OUR...
IT’S time to pick up the pieces – as today is National Jigsaw Day. The puzzles have become more popular than ever in lockdown with even celebrities getting involved. But how much do you know about the humble jigsaw? Here puts together 12 fun facts…
The first jigsaws were made in 1760 by Berkshire map- maker John Spilsbury. They were maps of the British Empire cut into pieces to help teach children geography and dubbed “dissected maps”. Early 19th- century puzzles were designed for the children of wealthy families and made of mahogany or cedar. Later that century German furniture dealer Raphael Tuck used improved printing techniques to produce jigsaws printed on plywood or thick card and introduced boxes with picture examples of the puzzle.
The name “jigsaw” came to be associated with the puzzle around 1880 when fretsaws were the tool of choice for cutting the shapes, while the term
“jigsaw puzzle” was first used in 1909.
The one with the most pieces was put together in 2011 at a university in Vietnam and featured 551,232 bits. It took 1,600 students to make the 76ft puzzle. Brazilian Luiza Figueiredo has the largest collection of jigsaws in the world – she boasts 1,047 different sets and has been amassing them since 1967. American artist The Enigma has 2,123 puzzle pieces tattooed on his body, making him a human jigsaw. He also boasts horn implants, ear reshaping and multiple body piercings. Deepika Ravichandran is the world’s fastest puzzler. She completed the Guinness world record 250- piece jigsaw in 13 minutes and seven seconds, aged 15, in 2014.
The most expensive puzzle sold for £ 14,589 at a charity auction in Pennsylvania. It was made by renowned puzzler Rachel Page Elliott, who was 92 at the time, and featured 467 interlocking pieces in designs of birds, cats, horses and golden retrievers in various poses.
UK band Sugar Coat turned their vinyl single Me Instead into a playable jigsaw in 2016. It showed a crowded supermarket scene.
Manufacturer
10
reported sales
Ravensburger shooting up
370% once lockdowns were implemented around the world earlier this year, with exotic locations among the most popular designs as puzzlers sought escapism. Celebrity fans include Kylie Jenner, who said she did “so many” while pregnant with daughter Stormi. Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood also claims they are “good for the brain” and Star Trek’s Sir Patrick Stewart once showed off his effort on The Graham Norton Show, adding: “This took weeks!” Queen Victoria used to enjoy doing them, while our current Queen is a puzzle enthusiast. But she prefers not to see the picture on the box as that would make it too easy. According to experts, it takes four times as long to do a 1,000- piece jigsaw than it does to do a 500- piece jigsaw. That’s because each time you double the number of pieces in a puzzle you quadruple the difficulty.