Looking to up your game and finish jigsaw puzzles faster or tackle challenges more confidently? A few simple changes to your puzzling routine can decrease your time and improve your skills.
While the goal of doing a jigsaw puzzle isn’t necessarily to get it done as fast as you can (unless you’re into speed puzzling), it’s fun to see yourself get better and make smarter puzzling decisions.
Plus, finishing puzzles faster means you can start on the next one sooner. What’s better than more puzzles? Follow the tips below to improve your puzzling skills and finish your jigsaw puzzles faster.
This one may feel obvious, but it’s a game-changer. If you can’t see all of your puzzle pieces, you’re spending a lot of time doing guesswork. Taking a few minutes to lay them all out face up will help you identify the pieces you need more quickly.
The more you look at your pieces, the more you’ll start noticing certain colors and patterns. Trust us, it’s way more efficient than digging through a pile of puzzle pieces and hoping for the best.
As soon as you open your puzzle, go through each piece and as you’re flipping them face up, also separate out all the edge pieces. Then, put the border together before you start piecing together the interior of the puzzle.
This is a well-known strategy because it gives your jigsaw puzzle a parameter to work within. It’s way easier to figure out where the interior pieces go when you’ve already got the border in place.
There are multiple ways to sort puzzle pieces. For example, you could sort them by:
Similar to turning your pieces face up, sorting them helps you know what you’re working with rather than taking a guess. As you move through different sections of the puzzle, you know which pile of pieces to try rather than trying them all. We love using puzzle sorting trays to make staying organized easier.
If your puzzle has a distinguishing section, such as a red barn with a landscape in the background, work on the red barn first. Sections like these become “anchors” that connect you to the rest of the puzzle.
This strategy is way more rewarding than starting with something more vague, like a huge section of sky. You’ll feel a quick sense of accomplishment, which will also help you work faster.
Plus, working on your jigsaw puzzle in sections is way more efficient than working on the entire image at once. Once you finish the biggest anchor piece, move on to the next one and keep going until you complete them all.
After you finish the major anchor sections of your puzzle, you can move on to the trickier parts, like a huge piece of sky. Saving the harder sections for the end decreases the number of pieces you’ll have to search through to find matches.
With the anchor pieces in place first, you’ll start to see the image come together, which will guide you further when it comes to the harder parts. These sections will also help you connect the other sections that you’ve already completed, bringing the full puzzle together.
Want to put these skills to use? The best way to log more jigsaw puzzling practice is with a Completing the Puzzle Membership.
Completing the Puzzle is the first puzzle rental subscription system. Here’s how it works: you make a wishlist, receive a puzzle, complete it, and send it back. Once it ships, we’ll send out your next puzzle.
There’s no better way to become a faster puzzler than with a never-ending supply. Join today!