The Worst Puzzle

We interrupt our scheduled Ten Puzzles At A Time of 2020 to bring you my most recently finished, and most controversial, puzzle.  This little rat is guilty--!! of making me swear I'll sell it at the first opportunity!  Of course every collection of jigsaw puzzles has some hard ones; mine certainly does.  Hard does not necessarily mean 'bad.'   Twenty-twenty's hardest puzzle was also one of the most interesting, and I certainly plan on keeping that one (the Wolf's Head PhotoMosaic); more on it later.   But this round horse-head puzzle, from a reputable company (or so I thought), is most definitely... umm,...  not a keeper.

What makes a bad puzzle?

After completing this one, I can say that first and foremost, for me, even above the picture, the cut matters.  I use the term to refer to how the pieces fit together.  'Cut' covers not just piece shape and size but quality of interlocking and the feel of the fit.  Earlier puzzles I've reviewed have had loose cuts; the Copper Queen is Exhibit A.  Copper Queen puzzle   Although in her blog post I was quite free with criticisms of the cut, I hope it is clear that I love the puzzle regardless -- I would never sell her.  Copper Queen and her sibling puzzles have a historically important and now time-tested cut that has proven to be (as later posts will show) desirable for its own charms.  But Saddle Up has got the worst cut I've ever run across.

 First, there's the actual edge.  Rarely does a successful cut have straight lines on an edge piece.  I know they did this to accommodate the circle; but it seems cheap.  Think those little noses are good grippers?  Think again.

The slightest push with my hand, and things crumple up.  There's no holding capability.  This puzzle does not stick together whatsoever.  Part of the problem is how thin these pieces are.  Did I mention cheap?  When it's time for teardown, one swipe of the hand, one grabbing clutch will do the whole job!

Current Inc. is a stationery company.  I've used them for decades for address label stickers and for checks.  They're in Colorado Springs, which is wonderful for this native Coloradan.  I'm pretty sure we picked up this puzzle in a local restaurant in PA about 7 years back.  Circular puzzle, artist painted horse heads, thousand pieces:  Can't go wrong, right??

You can't pick up (or lay down) a piece without holding down all the other pieces around it with the rest of your fingers.  It's incredibly finicky and delicate, and it's almost impossible to shift around finished sections.  It needs to be put together in a place with absolutely no disturbance, which my living room floor just isn't.  For somebody who values the feel of piece placement, this is too much work for too little reward.  The scale of this puzzle was another challenge:  the box picture is so much smaller than the puzzle that it really is hard to work.  The scale was acceptable to me (the old pro) but might be off-putting to a novice.

And then there's the picture itself.

What at first glance looks like a lovely montage of horse heads turns out to be another cheat.  Saddle Up has 2 cases of twins, 3 cases of triplets and one set of quadruplets.  There's only one word for this.  I've been suckered.

First pair, reversed pinto drafters:

Second pair, dark bay or black ponies:

First trio, black heavy-hunter type with a blaze, one reversed:

Second trio, white-grey with a pink and grey nose, one reversed:

Third trio, calm bay or dun with blaze, one reversed:

Set of four, palomino Arab type, one reversed:

For all that, the Appaloosa is interesting, and I love the two chestnut foals.  The dark bay Dartmoor Pony (two o'clock position, just NE of the Appy) is charming.  The textures are different and so are the lovely warm colors, mostly.  The Pinto, above the Appaloosa, is a strange beast, looking for all the world as though the artist did not really understand tobianos or overos.  There is no artist name on the box, which is all to the good.

I'm all for supplying the horse-loving little girls of the world as many puzzles as possible.  But if this is their first one, be prepared for a young flourishing interest to be rudely disappointed.  The glory and reward of a well-made puzzle is not present here.  It got past my filters -- I grant that -- and I've worked it twice, the second time just to make sure I really didn't want it.

I don't.