Jigsaw Puzzles 101: How to Solve

Hey PCH fans! We know how much you all love different kinds of strategy games and puzzles, so today, we are bringing you a jigsaw puzzle strategy guide that will help you become a masterful puzzle solver!

While starting a new jigsaw puzzle can sometimes be intimidating, just follow these jigsaw puzzle tricks to breeze your way to a complete picture!

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Step 1. Spread Out the Tiles

Start by turning all the tiles face up and spreading them out across your work area. Doing this will allow you to see everything when assembling the puzzle easily. Next, separate the tiles by edge and middle pieces. Finally, one of the best tips for puzzles is also to group these piles by color.

Step 2. Start with the Edges

Now that everything is sorted, begin building the border of the puzzle using the edge pieces. This is a core jigsaw puzzle strategy, as the border will give you a great starting point from which to work! Another nice jigsaw puzzle trick in this vein is to start with the corner pieces of the puzzle, building the rest of the frame from these points. Once you have the border completely assembled, you will have laid a successful foundation for the rest of the puzzle.

Step 3. Focus Working on Small Groups

With the border complete, start grouping recognizable sections of the puzzle together. Must puzzles will have discernable subjects like animals, buildings, or scenery. Additionally, it is a good idea to do the same with pieces that have a dominant color. Therefore, a smart jigsaw puzzle strategy is to start putting these objects together, even if they do not link to one another or the border just yet. For the pieces that are not instantly recognizable, just set them aside in a miscellaneous pile for now.

Pro Tip: Identify Patches

When working on a jigsaw puzzle, it is wise to simply focus your attention on small patches of the puzzle at a time instead of trying to tackle it as a whole. Thus, just try to work on one patch of the picture at a time. When that is complete, move on to the next patch.

Step 4. Check for Pieces’ Lines and Patterns

Now that you have assembled some chunks of the image start thinking about how your little groups of completed pictures connect to one another. A great jigsaw puzzle strategy for accomplishing this is to look for different lines, patterns, and other defining features that will help to connect various clusters. Use these pieces to start filling in those gaps!

Pro Tip: Spot Cutting Patterns

In addition to lines and patterns, one of our favorite tips for puzzles is to also look at the shapes of the pieces themselves to try and figure out connections. All puzzle pieces have little grooves and knobs that hook together. Look at your pieces to see if you can spot any cutting patterns that clearly fit together and start linking to this way, too!

Final Tip: Take Breaks but Don’t Give Up!

Jigsaw puzzles are fun because they present a challenge. However, that means that you might find yourself stuck every now and again. If you cannot seem to find the right pieces, step away for a while and come back later. Just be sure not to give up and keep trying!

Puzzles come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and levels of difficulty. However, this jigsaw puzzles strategy guide should give all you PCH fans a fantastic foundation for cracking the code and completing these kinds of puzzles. Just remember that out of all these tips for puzzles, the most important one is to have fun!

If you want to get started putting together jigsaw puzzles but don’t have any lying around, don’t worry! You can always have fun solving jigsaw puzzles on the PCH website or app!

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