Though I got bored with them pretty quickly as a kid (apologies to my sister), I’ve realized as an adult that I actually enjoy putting together jigsaw puzzles. They’re a good meditative, unwinding activity that I enjoy sharing with family members. I do enjoy doing puzzles I’ve put together before, but it’s even more fun to try a new one.
I was recently sent a new 1000-piece puzzle from Princeton Architectural Press called “Chickenology,” with artwork by Camilla Pintonato. I have a soft spot for chicken art, because my mom has collected neat chicken things for most of my life. But that aside, this puzzle stood on its own.
It’s cardboard, and occasionally the pieces needed a little convincing to line up correctly, but I think that’s because it just had a few rough edges still. Otherwise, things snapped together pretty much as you’d expect.
This puzzle was a great deal of fun. We learned about different chicken breeds and their colors and textures. Fortunately, all of the plants, eggs, and feathers were all different enough to figure out where pieces went, but some of the chickens were far too similar, such as the two black and white dotted ones. Some of my favorites to look at are the Frizzle, the two Silkies, and the Ayam Cemani. Rory’s green/grey color blindness did present a problem for a few areas, but he found ways to contribute to the other spots.
I’m not sure why it took this long in my life to figure out that there aren’t 1000 pieces in a 1000 piece puzzle. I suppose I took puzzle makers at their word. But there are no whole numbers X and Y where, when you multiply them together, they equal 1000, and most puzzle pieces are lined up in a 2-dimensional grid. So. It turns out there are 1054 pieces in this puzzle. So, why don’t they just say that? But I digress.
“Chickenology” is available to purchase now, along with other puzzles by Princeton Architectural Press and their sister companies. I’m currently eyeing the “The World of Jane Austen” puzzle from Laurence King Publishing.
Note: I received a sample for review purposes.
