A royal barge sailing down the Thames past Windsor seemed a fitting cover for the start of our 40th anniversary year. The theme of the January meeting was ‘Celebration’. A wide range of celebrations was shown, including weddings, Armistice, a new pet, the launch of a ship, Christmas and a very rare British footballing victory.
Per-Martin told us engaging stories about a small Swedish jigsaw producer, OvB. Jackie and Bill finished their articles about, respectively, the early plywood years at Wentworth and a regular puzzle blog from Canada. The Editor talked to French hand-cutter Genest about developments in his cutting style, while Pete gave tips on storing puzzles fully assembled, ready for display.
Patrice shared a beautiful old portrait of a woman with a book, and our crossword compiler Peter was given his marching orders to make his puzzles easier in future. The Spectator referenced the BCD in an article about the rise of the jigsaw puzzle as a fashion accessory. And Emma told us why she, as neither a child nor a pensioner, loved puzzling. All this and lots more in this issue!