Pete Day introduced himself as only the third Chair in the BCD’s existence, and explained how Waddington’s Jig-Maps had sparked an early interest in doing and collecting puzzles.
Much of the magazine was again taken up with a lavishly illustrated account of ‘Holiday Destinations’ puzzles, from the June ‘Show and Tell’. But it also contained the welcome news that a new meeting timetable has been agreed, and that face-to-face meetings and the annual house party have been scheduled.
George explained the trials of assembling a 3-D jigsaw of the Houses of Parliament. John is interested in cataloguing Lumar puzzles, and asks for information. Nicki provided more information about the superb cutter Ada Dinn, and Jackie profiled another outstanding cutter about whom little is known, with only two known examples of his/her work. And Rosie shared the experience of being filmed for Bargain Hunt, while talking about Victory puzzles.
One of these articles was held over for a year and a half, a sign of the amount of high-quality submissions. Despite the pressure on space, though, the editor always finds room for some light-hearted fun alongside the serious puzzle research. Alan described his Wentworth ‘Tea for two’ puzzle with unexpected military whimsies, and Geert explained how his Peacock map puzzle came to be missing all the English counties. It had been in the owners’ home in Germany, and the pieces were handed in to the authorities by their housekeeper during World War Two, in response to an order to relinquish all maps of England! Anne and Kerstin shared an article from 1916 about a puzzle club in New Zealand, which contains a priceless anecdote about the value of jigsaws to over-worked servants.