Are you a puzzle person?

@vera5d (4005)
United States
March 26, 2008 7:36am CST
I love puzzles, all kinds. Whether they're the typical photo puzzles with 500, 1000, or even the little 50 piece puzzles my son has, I love doing them. I think I can blame my grandma for this, she was a puzzle fanatic and usually did very complicated ones and then glue & frame them when she was done. I don't have much time for puzzles, but they are one of my weaknesses if I see one somewhere or if someone gets me one as a present. I love other types of puzzles too - crossword puzzles, sudoko puzzles, logic puzzles, you name it. They are a great way to pass the time when you are waiting somewhere. So what about you? Are you a puzzle person? If you're not a puzzle person, what other kind of things do you enjoy doing to pass the time?
8 people like this
30 responses
@jona_jz (80)
• Philippines
26 Mar 08
I love puzzles though I don't always get the chance to solve it, most especially the Rubik's cube. I always tried to solve it but to no success at all. Then when I met my fiance, he taught me about the Soduko puzzle which I have tried solving before but only had given me headache until I knew the technique to solve it, courtesy of my fiance. It is one of the things we both enjoy doing. We would just sit together for a few hours without talking to each other and just solving Sodukos. LOL.
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
26 Mar 08
i like to do the sudokos when i am tired but can't sleep - they always knock me out, lol. i tried explaining how to do them to my hubby & his dad they both thought i was nuts!
• Philippines
26 Mar 08
LOL. You're not nuts! It's fun to do. I have tried sharing it to my workmates too but I had never been successful about it.
@littleone3 (2063)
26 Mar 08
Yes i love to do puzzles but dont get to do them as much as i would like to since having my children. But when i do my younger children like to try to help me its a great way to spend time together. I also enjoy doing crosswords and wordsearchs.
1 person likes this
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
26 Mar 08
i hope when the kids get older we can do more puzzles together, they are so great!
@Chey1970 (1186)
• United States
26 Mar 08
When I was a kid, jigsaw puzzles was considering "family time". In the evenings after we had eaten our evening meal and took out baths/showers, instead of everyone going plop in front of the TV. One by one we would gather around a jigsaw puzzle and work on it together. Now it's a pass time (mainly in the winter), to sit in front of the fireplace, and me and my husband work on one of them together.
1 person likes this
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
26 Mar 08
that sounds great! we are starting to do them more often as a family too but it is harder with the little ones :) i tend to do them in the winter only, summer's too nice to be stuck inside unless i have to be!
@gabrielle47 (1219)
• Philippines
26 Mar 08
Yes I am a puzzle person and I guess all of us siblings are too! I remember when my mom was on trip in Europe and brought home a large puzzle to make. We took turns and worked together in making the puzzle. It was a hard 1000 pcs puzzle with gardens and a sky at the tops which is mostly blue and little sky. So it took us really a lot of time to complete the upper portion. From then on we would buy when we have time puzzle to solve and everybody takes turn when they have time as we place it in a study table where everyone can do at anytime. Puzzle are my thing also here in the net and wherever I go especially on a trip, I make it a point to bring a puzzle to work on like sodoku, crosswords, etc. I guess i inherited it from my mom. I beleive its a great way to stimulate our minds.
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
26 Mar 08
I think it is a good way to get your mind thinking too! Sometimes I think it's a waste of time but then I think it might help my logic skills or memory in some way, lol. Might just be a good excuse too though! thanks for sharing your story about your family! those flower/sky puzzles are some of the toughest!
@Ldyjarhead (10233)
• United States
26 Mar 08
I like puzzles too, but haven't done one in ages. I always enjoyed doing them with my sons when they were younger, and I have fond memories of the whole family doing them together when I was a kid. I have a nice puzzle here somewhere and I need to find a large board or something so that I can put it together. I don't have any space to leave it, so would have to be something I could pick up and tuck under the bed or something. I like sudoku puzzles too, but not the harder ones. I never cared for logic puzzles, but I do like crossword puzzles too. There are places online that you can do jigsaw puzzles, did you know that?
1 person likes this
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
26 Mar 08
i've found a good big piece of black felt on the table works and then you can roll it up when you don't need it and put it in a mail tube, like for mailing posters...i do not do the ones i like to do very often because my kids would lose the pieces in about 30 seconds, lol.
26 Mar 08
I enjoy doing jigsaws very much and collect Wallace and Gromit jigsaw as am a massive fan! On facebook they have a jigsaw puzzle application which I throughly enjoy though dont do the hard ones as its confusing to do it on the computer as I have a habit of starting with the egde and then the middle. I attempt other puzzles only when i buy a magazine but not very good with crossword puzzles or logic ones. I like Suduko puzzles now that i understand how to do them. My grandma also was a puzzle person but i couldnt never help her due to the way she did them. She would start at the top and work her way to the bottom so that she didnt knock the botttom and wouldnt have to stretch to the top! I found this confusing as I like to work on different parts especially when I find one area fustrating. How do you do your jigsaw puzzles??
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
26 Mar 08
i will usually start with the edges to get those pieces out of the way, then i will pick whatever area that is easier to start with - like one with a certain pattern for example that's easy to follow & find the pieces for that. After that I start moving on to different areas...i will save things like the sky for last. It would be harder to try and do a puzzle from top to bottom I never thought to do it that way!
@subha12 (18441)
• India
27 Mar 08
i like puzzles. i fell in love when my 2.5 yr old niece wanted me to make it for her. i think it needs brain also. i like those . also i like to play online puzzle games as match 3
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
29 Mar 08
i will have to check out match 3, htanks! that baby in youre picture is adorable!
@aretha (2538)
• United States
26 Mar 08
before we had kids we did them all the time. my mom,inlaws and us would buy them and pass them around for each to do. after having kids its to hard trying to put one together. i have been trying to find a couple nice ones to put together and frame to put in the boys rooms but not finding what i am looking for. right now the only puzzles i get to put together are spiderman,scooby doo,spongebob,big trucks and other kids cartoons. other then that i only really care for the search a word books.
1 person likes this
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
26 Mar 08
lol, you sound like me :) we just did a spongebob puzzle last night! When I was pregnant with my son i worked nonstop on one of those mosaic puzzles of mickey mouse...that has to be the hardest puzzle i ever did! I saved it for him and glued it to put in his room, but it sadly didn't survive our last move! I still have it, but mickey is missing a few pieces :(
@ctrymuziklvr (11057)
• United States
26 Mar 08
Right after my Mom passed away in January I decided to get a jigsaw puzzle to keep my mind busy. It has 1000 pieces and it's going to be a beautiful picture of an American Indian woman and two wolves. The thing I like about it is that it's round. It's a very hard one to work and I'm lucky if I get two or three pieces a day but I'm enjoying it.
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
26 Mar 08
puzzles are a great way to get your mind off things...one piece at a time is a good way to start :) I like the idea of a round one!
@Marg12 (329)
• United States
27 Mar 08
I am definitely a jigsaw puzzle person. I used to do them all the time but don't have time now with all the computer work that I do. But there is a place, probably a couple of places, on the Internet, where you can do the puzzles. A friend sends me a puzzle every day. I am not sure of the link, but could find out if anyone is interested. My father used to make puzzles which are terrific. There isn't a picture to do with these puzzles so they are extra hard to do. I like cross word puzzles too, but am not very good at doing them.
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
29 Mar 08
that sounds neat, the ones your father made without pictures! thanks for sharing!
@chrislotz (8137)
• Canada
27 Mar 08
Yes I am a puzzle person. I love to do puzzles too, but for the last couple years I haven't worked on very many of them, either, because I don't live in my own house, house sitting, and when it's not your own house you tend to not do the same things you would do otherwise. But as soon as I move next week and get settled in, I am going to pull out all my puzzles and start doing them again. I don't paste mine together and frame them. I just take it apart after I am finished and do them again sometime. That way I don't have to keep buying more. I have about a dozen of them now so that is enough. I also love to do crossword puzzles and I love doing the word finds. I mostly do those while I am sitting on the toilet. I have about half a dozen of them sitting in my bathroom, at all times. I go to the dollar store to buy them, for only a dollar each, instead of paying full price for them in other stores, around $5.00.
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
30 Mar 08
i hope you have a good move next week! you are a multi-tasker like me :) i like doing the crosswords on yahoo - though the dollar store is a great place for those things - that's where i bought my sudoko books :)
@gemini_rose (16264)
27 Mar 08
I love to do puzzles, jigsaw puzzles and puzzle books, I used to be quite addicted to jigsaw puzzles as a child and would sit and do the really big ones with no problems at all. I have not done one for years, I sit and do cross stitch though which in a funny way is similar as instead of pieces you have stitches! I love to see the picture build up. I also love logic puzzles, I used to be able to do them without cheating and it always used to amuse my dad how fast I could solve them, but I have not done any of them for years now, not since having my children. I have never had a go at sudoko.
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
28 Mar 08
they are hard with the kids because they'll lose the pieces or spill something on it or destroy the part you were working on, etc. i hope my kids will like puzzles when they are older and we can do a lot together as a family - mine are both under 5 now :)
@gemini_rose (16264)
28 Mar 08
I think my daughter would enjoy doing puzzles with me as she is older, she is only 2 now so is not into much at the min! Well she is, but only things that do not belong to her he he!! My boys would probably do them actually, well my 7 year old would, its actually given me a thought actually, I might get a used one from the charity shop and see if he wants to sit and do one. Mind you it will be hard because my daughter would be constantly trying to help!!
@xixinha (141)
• Portugal
27 Mar 08
Of all puzzles i enjoy sudoku the most, i usually don't have the time for the others. But to pass the time i go out over my friends house or i am surfing the net.
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
29 Mar 08
yes the internet has really taken up a lot of my puzzle time also!
• China
27 Mar 08
i dont like the puzzles at all , it use the brain too much , headcahe!i enjoying the light music,quiet .also very enjoy!
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
29 Mar 08
listening to music and relaxing are good for you too!
@ajithlal (14716)
• India
26 Mar 08
I am not very good at puzzles. I like jigsaw puzzles very much. I also like the small small puzzles games and I loved to play them. The biggest thing I like is mysteries and mystery stories. I love reading mystery books expecially The Hardy Boys, Secret Seven, Nancy Drew, Famous Five, etc.
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
26 Mar 08
i like mystery stories too! in a way that is like a puzzle in itself trying to figure out the mystery!
@clrumfelt (5490)
• United States
26 Mar 08
I get more enjoyment from word puzzles and online puzzle games like Majong and Jewel Quest. I do occasionally enjoy the jigsaws, but crosswords and word scrambles are really my thing.
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
27 Mar 08
i love word scrambles & other word games! Yahoo has a bunch you can play for free...but they are addictive :)
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
26 Mar 08
I like to solve ciphers, but the number puzzles are a tad beyond me. Logic puzzles are fun, but take more time than I usually have to give up. Hubby is always telling me that drawing is a puzzle and nothing more than problem-soving. Maybe that is why I like learning to draw, but it is a never-ending process.
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
28 Mar 08
drawing is sort of like a puzzle...they are all very time consuming, which is why i don't do them as often as my habit woould like me to lol
• Singapore
27 Mar 08
yes because my life is a puzzle, its complicated...
• Philippines
26 Mar 08
it started when i was 2 my mom bought me a 10 piece picture puzzle, my uncle was surprised because was i able no form it fast for my age thats the start, everybody is giving me a picture puzzle from 10 pieces it become 25 pieces then 50 and now im playing with 500 pieces and just like your grandma i glue them and frame it. im also crazy for crossword, sudoko and logic puzzles.
@vera5d (4005)
• United States
26 Mar 08
puzzles are great! i used to help my grandma do those insane 2500 piece puzzles as a kid...i remember being in awe as she snapped the pieces together and i couldn't always get matches. i would be so proud if i got like 2 pieces together, lol. I think your story is proof starting puzzles at a young age is a good way to start a lifetime love for puzzles!
• United States
26 Jun 08
I like puzzles, except for those 3-D image ones. I get a migrain headache trying to see what 2 inches from my nose, and I never see it, what a waste of time. I like seek a word puzzles, I can solve those in a few minutes. I like crossword ones too, on-line and timed. Gotta keep my mind sharp.