Day 2,246, Quasi-Quarantine: The Sharing Spirit Was Missing With This Noel Puzzle

 

'Twas the season for puzzling, and this one was a good follow-up to another Yule puzzle we'd wrapped up a bit earlier. It was a fun one, but unfortunately my partner worked on it quite a bit behind my back and ruined part of the experience.

7.1, would cobble together again with a better teammate

Day 2,151, Quasi-Quarantine: Celebrating The Hops In Puzzle Form

The "Crafty" puzzle from Happily was another fun one, documenting 48 different craft breweries from around the globe. This 1,000-piecer was made in the Netherlands and showcased some truly tremendous cans and obscure microbreweries.

The only (small) downside was that three sets of hands put this one together, so I perhaps didn't get an opportunity to spend time with and appreciate this one enough. Regardless, it was a winner -- and the more the merrier, with puzzlers and beer alike!

8.4, would solve amid icy blasts again

Day 2,145, Quasi-Quarantine: Request For "Banned Books Puzzle" Misinterpreted As Confusing-But-Fun "Band Books Puzzle"

 

This 1,000-piece puzzle from White Mountain had a pretty liberal interpretation of "Great Stories." Ostensibly capturing "classic literature and classic books," this 24- x 30-inch work leaned hard on books about rock music, mostly rendered by artist J. Scott Nicol.

The bizarre theme aside, this was a worthy challenge. The book spines made for a fun element of connecting various parts of the puzzle.

7.8 out of 10, would cobble together during an ice storm again

Day 2,135, Quasi-Quarantine: Complex Puzzle Depicts Stunning Sea Shells, With Only One Thing Missing

 

After unexpectedly having some extra time around the house recently, we tackled a sea shells puzzle from Elena Essex. Measuring 28 x 20 inches, this work was challenging, with a lot of similar shades making you really work for it.

Unfortunately, this 1,000-piecer did have a missing piece, though the company did include a note inside the box for how to contact them in such cases. A) How thoughtful! but B) Does this mean it's a common occurrence?

All told, this was a beautiful and complex puzzle that made me long for the beach -- with a slight ding in the grade for the missing piece.

8.7 out of 10, would painfully construct during bereavement again

Day 2,094, Quasi-Quarantine: Back On That Noel Puzzle Vibe

 

Galison has become our go-to holiday puzzler, and we kicked off the season with another 500-piecer recently.

"Winter Wonderland" was a bit on the easy side, with a few tricky parts (the starry night and the ridgeline). Throwing on some Christmas vinyls and working through another puzzle was as peaceful -- and needed -- as we remembered from previous years.

7.5 out of 10, would synergize with a Sam Smith again

Day 1,915, Quasi-Quarantine: Stars Hollow Comes To Raleigh

 

A recent gift-giving opportunity allowed me to present a Hallmark puzzle to a long-time "Gilmore Girls" aficanado.

The 1,000-piece puzzle was just challenging enough, allowing for the various locations from the TV show to be built as a collection of mini-puzzles. From Luke's Diner to the Dragonfly Inn to Lorelai's house and more, the pieces were colorful and vibrant.

Measuring 24" W x 30" H, this puzzle was charming and nostalgic, even for those who struggled to follow the fast-talking Gilmores.

8.6/10, would construct with a "Gilmore Girls" fan again

Day 1,759, Quasi-Quarantine: The Holidays Mean A Puzzling Time In More Ways Than One

 

The 500-piece "Toy Workshop" from Galison was not too stressful and had some delightful images. Measuring 20 x 20 and created by Michael Storrings, this puzzle had just enough difficulty to allow for everyone to make a contribution while still making it challenging.

8.1 out of 10, would piece together while listening to Christmas music again

Day 1,708, Quasi-Quarantine: Holiday Puzzling Is Upon Us

 

This clever puzzle was just complex enough to be challenging, with just the right mix of cool artwork and difficulty level. At 1,000 pieces, it blended similar colors, shapes, and limbs, while giving a nice run-through of the sheer variety of minifigures that Lego has created over the years.

8.5/10, would snap together while listening to Christmas tunes again.

Related: I miss Legos. 😞

Day 1,632, Quasi-Quarantine: Alighting From The Crow's Nest For Long Enough To Puzzle

 

Maintaining a long-standing beach-trip tradition, we tackled a couple of more puzzles on our latest visit to the OBX.

The newcomer was this tremendous 1,000-piece puzzle from Cavallini Papers & Co. that featured vintage images of national parks. 

The 20 x 28 puzzle came in a handy 10-inch tube with a bag inside for the pieces, making cleanup and storage easy.

The end result was a beautiful collection that served the purpose of making me want to visit more national parks.

9/10, would cobble together in Kill Devil Hills again.

Day 1,492, Quasi-Quarantine: Having A Picnic (Puzzle) In The Shadow Of Chimney Rock

 

A recent trip to the North Carolina mountains provided another opportunity to work on a travel puzzle.

This time, the subject was a 1,000-piece panoramic puzzle from Mudpuppy. "Picnic Party" featured a number of very similar colors and some really faint touches, making it a worthy challenge.

8/10, would pursue overlooking Lake Lure again.

Day 1,394, Quasi-Quarantine: Testing Our Puzzling Skills Along The Outer Banks Once More

 

Beach time in the winter often means taking on a puzzle, and this year we tackled a 500-piece, helmet-shaped NFL puzzle. This one was surprisingly tricky, mostly due to color similarities across many teams' headgear.

9/10, would construct amidst the background of the ocean roar again.

Day 1,373, Quasi-Quarantine: Diabolical Puzzle Makes For A Cool Yule Experience

 

The holidays are a great time to break out puzzles, and "Santa's Village" proved to be a formidable challenge. This 1,000-piecer was tough due to the sheer number of similar elements -- snow, trees, ice, etc. -- with like hues.

Kudos, Michael Storrings. "Santa's Village" was difficult, but not impossible, and a worthy activity this season.

9/10, would reconstruct again while listening to a "Louis Wishes You A Cool Yule" vinyl.

Day 1,039, Quasi-Quarantine: Ending The Year In Pigskin Puzzle Style

 

For maximum beach puzzle-time fun, you know we had to pick up the counterpart to the baseball version that we had knocked out. 

The NFL version came with a bonus U.S. map to highlight in crystal-clear terms how little we knew about the geography of our own nation. With more open spaces and alternate colors, this 500-piecer took a bit longer than the baseball one.

8.5/10, would dig out again during beach bowl season.

Day 1,026, Quasi-Quarantine: It Was Batter Up Time For Our Latest Beach Puzzle

Over the recent holiday break, we unexpectedly found a couple of puzzles on sale, giving us a worthy pastime during some recuperation time at the beach.

With an MLB theme, we found a willing child-sized participant -- and anything we can do to get a kid interested in a puzzle instead of a tablet, we'll do.

At 500 pieces at a time with multiple baseball and football options, the puzzles were manageable and engrossing. Much like children themselves.

8/10, would puzzle out again on a lazy day at the beach.

Day 681, Quasi-Quarantine: Escaping Snow Day With Dogs On A Beach

 

With flakes hitting the city over a coupla days and shutting down, well, everything, it was puzzle-and-IPA time.

This 750-piece Dog Days puzzle -- I feel it's important to point out that it's called "Ruff Summer" -- was a good distraction. Not too difficult, not too easy ... just right.

8/10, would solve again on a snowy, beery day.

Day 515, Quasi-Quarantine: Piecing Together "The Dude" In Nags Head

 

There's few better rainy-day-at-the-beach activities than crushing a puzzle, and it's even better when "The Big Lebowski" is involved.

With extended family helping, we knocked this one out in a respectable amount of time, despite the relative lack of color and gradient.

8.5/10, would team up at the OBX to solve again.

But that's, like, your opinion, man.

Day 295, Quasi-Quarantine: Piecing Together The Big Easy, Surf Side

 

Staying with the beach-trip-puzzle theme, we knocked out a fun New Orleans-themed puzzle on our latest visit to the Outer Banks. New Orleans is one of my favorite places, and this puzzle not only celebrated the Crescent City, but also offered a few educational opportunities with some cool tidbits built into the design.

7/10, would solve at my happy place to the soundtrack of shore pound again.

Day 197, Quasi-Quarantine: Coastal Puzzling Continues

 

Another trip to the coast, another random puzzle.

This 500-piecer depicts New York's Coney Island. As a hand-me-down, it had the customary infuriating missing piece. It also didn't pose as much of a challenge as I would have preferred, but that can also be good at times.

6/10, would solve beach side of a Monday night again.

Day 129, Quasi-Quarantine: Why Yes, That Is Another Beer Puzzle

The second puzzle we completed at the Outer Banks was this nifty beer puzzle (are you sensing a theme?). Unlike the other beer puzzle from earlier in quasi-quarantine, this one relied solely on labels and not bottle shapes and colors.

There were some phenomenal beer labels highlighted, and I have to begrudgingly tip my cap for the PBR inclusion. This puzzle contained a variety of both common and rare brews, and gave me a few ideas for other beers to track down as the global pandemic shows no sign of relenting in America.

7.5/10, would solve (and drink) during a quasi-quarantine again.

Day 116, Quasi-Quarantine: A Puzzling Combination Of Beach, Beer, And Butterflies

During a recent trip to the Outer Banks, this spiffy little puzzle came in handy during a downpour that lasted for nearly an entire day.

This one wasn't overly complex, which was probably a good thing due to the level of beer being consumed. We split up the work so that one of us was piecing together the butterfly names while the other was orienting the pieces by color.

This puzzle didn't take very long to put together, but it was a welcome activity and is soothing to look at. At the time, I wasn't asking a whole lot more of a puzzle -- or from life, really.

5.5/10, would desperately complete at the beach during a quasi-quarantine again.