How To Solve A Jigsaw Puzzle FAST(er)

Competing against yourself and others in completing jigsaw puzzles under the pressure of time can be challenging but if you’re up for it, a lot of fun. There are a few easy tips and tricks to keep in mind when solving jigsaw puzzles fast and at the end of this post, you can walk away knowing that you got the right tricks up your sleeve.

1. Plan And Prepare Your Puzzle Surroundings

Set yourself up for success and for solving your puzzle quickly by prepping your surroundings for a smooth puzzle journey. Good lighting is a must here and so is a smooth surface and sufficient space to do the puzzle and to organise the pieces. If you find yourself lacking the space, a puzzle table and puzzle sorting boxes are great ways to give yourself that extra space.

2. Start The Puzzle Methodically

Turn over all the pieces so that the motif is facing you.

Sort smartly: Divide the pieces into colours, motifs and edge pieces. Put all pieces that belong in a similar division neatly next to each other. You might have to sort more closely later on, but this should get you off to a good start.

Piece together the edges. However, do not get hung up if parts of the edge are missing and leave it as is for now. Rest assured that the missing edge piece(s) will appear soon enough. The completed edges, help give you a good estimate of how large the puzzle is and where each motif is situated.

Use the box or the puzzle print to visualize the puzzle in front of you.

Focus on the easy stuff. Simply take pleasure in completing the colours and motifs that come easily.

3. When The Puzzling Gets Difficult

If you find yourself slowing down in your puzzle journey, it might be best to take advantage of some of these tips:

Re-sort the remaining puzzle pieces. As there are fewer pieces left to sort, separating them according to colour, motifs and piece shape becomes easier.

Work on smaller sections of the puzzle and focus on completing those.

When sorting according to colour does not cut it anymore, start looking at the texture of the pieces. In one colour, you can discover different patterns (paint brush, waves, ripples etc) which can help you further sort pieces and find new placements.

If you find yourself unable to find any more pieces, the dreaded ‘puzzle blindness’, take a quick break. Once you get back to it, you will often spot things that were right there in front of you all this time.