So a friend gave me a puzzle to put together, (I washed it off).......it's 1000

[a kennedy]

pieces. I don’t think I have a table large enough to hold it all!!!!!!!!! First , put the border together right?? It’s been years since I worked on puzzles. Yikes.......

[Rorey]

1. Well, you don't want the Puzzle Police to get you

So you better do it right!

I always started with the border, but there are no rules.

[a kennedy]

2. Shut up....puzzle police??? Seriously???

[Rorey]

3. If they show up, don't let them in.

Unless they have a warrant.

[Rorey]

4. My mom and I used to put together a huge puzzle every Christmas

And we actually did have rules. My dad always thought he could "help" when we were almost done. Definitely against our rules. Another rule we had was that near the end, if we got a piece in that we had been searching for, we'd tap it. It was sort of a proclamation that the search was over.

[a kennedy]

9. Gotcha......and yah, always hated when someone would come up with a piece

I was looking for pop it in and leave grinning. Hated that. This friend that gave me her puzzle had just finished a 18,000 piece one. Didn’t know they even had them that large.

[Rorey]

12. Wow! How long did it take her? NT

[a kennedy]

13. Just texted her to ask, she said 8 months.....March thru Nov. Worked thru Summer.

She was also working through it all too. I’m afraid this 1000 puzzle for me is going to be next year......whew.

[Rorey]

15. I'm not that patient

I think the most difficult (to me) puzzle I ever did was a Where's Waldo one that someone gave to my daughter. I don't think it had a huge number of pieces, but they were all Waldo. It wasn't fun. It was frustrating. But it was there, and had to be done. A compulsion, I suppose.

[WePurrsevere]

5. I love doing jigsaw puzzles and always start with the border too.

I find them very soothing although during the colder weather I do them online since our cats think that the puzzle pieces are fun to play hockey with.

[2naSalit]

6. If you put the border together first

it just makes it easier to figure out where the rest of the pieces go. Kind of like establishing the lines to color within.

[targetpractice]

7. Absolutely, no way, no how....

During this time... If anyone gave me a puzzle... I would hit them over the head with the box, and force feed them the pieces. I can't even...

[woodsprite]

8. Hubby is a serious puzzle person

He does the border first (I help with that), then he separates colors of all the rest of the pieces and goes from there. I usually stop at that point and go do something else. He and my daughter can sit there for hours working on a puzzle.

Have fun!

[a kennedy]

10. Yah, was thinking color would be helpful too, thanks.

[MissB]

11. In addition to the other tips

I find it useful to get up and change where I’m sitting. If you’re using a table, switch to a chair that’s 90 degrees from where you are. Sometimes the change in perspective will enable you to see where pieces fit.

[a kennedy]

14. Thanks for this......am afraid it's gonna be a long, long ordeal.