This issue had an American focus, with a special feature on US premium laser puzzle company Liberty, who have recently celebrated their 20th anniversary.
Geert and Anne shared their research on early figure pieces in jigsaw puzzles, asking others to collaborate with them. Joe showed many photos of the beautiful little PEPE puzzles he has received as a regular contributor to the Pagey Elliot Puzzle Exchange (PEPE) at the Puzzle Parley.
Kerstin talked about movie puzzle jigsaws, Wout filled the Portraits slot with two unusual puzzles featuring Maori subjects, and Bronwen dived into mediaeval China after buying a mystery laser-cut puzzle.
We held our regular January virtual meeting; the theme was ‘Maps, facts and science’. There were talks by Craig from Puzzly about how AI is being used in puzzle design, and by Mike about what makes some puzzles harder than others, and how he assesses their difficulty. It’s always great to catch up with members who can’t get to our face-to-face meetings in the UK, so please join us if you can, for some or all of our next virtual weekend, 15th – 17th May. The theme will be ‘Patterns and Shapes’.