Puzzling

In getting a head start on spring cleaning, I happened upon a closet with a shelf full of jigsaw puzzles from back in a time when we were in the grip of puzzle mania…sometime shortly after Risk mania and well before Netflix mania. One of the puzzles was still wrapped...unopened, indicating it’s probably the last one we bought before the high wire excitement of puzzle making exhausted itself in our lives. For old time’s sake…and, yes, to carve out some escape from the agonizing death watch of democracy on our TV…Lorna and I decided to break open this box of chopped Picasso and fit it together. It was an altogether pleasant experience, but coming back to it like this after so many years made me more aware of some of the more salient features of puzzling, to wit:Organization is vital…starting with the basic of turning over each and every pieceFurther organization, say separating out the colors, would also be helpful, but might delay getting started with the serious business of putting pieces together, thus causing energy and enthusiasm for the project to flagIt’s important to view all elements of each puzzle piece—shape, size, shades of coloring. Too much focus on any one element in searching for a missing piece can cause you to miss it even if it’s right under your nose. Identifying piece types is indispensable. Putting names to recurring shapes...rabbit ears, spades, biracial noses, crucifixes...is as important as red, blue, yellow The impact of bringing fresh eyes to the task is considerable, so it’s important not to dwell too much on one portion of the puzzle. After a dry spell of perhaps 20 minutes, it helps to move on to another area…even to get up and walk away from the puzzle for an hour or two and have a drink There can be no better fresh eyes than someone else’s, so it helps to do the puzzle with someone and trade off areas of focus.Dry spells are unavoidable, however. Even with help, there inevitably comes a point where you become convinced that quality control at the manufacturer failed (or it was done in China!) and the puzzle was boxed with a piece missing or a piece dropped onto the floor and was kicked under a rug and the housecleaner lifted the rug and vacuumed it upConversely there reaches a point in any long puzzle session of an hour or so when pieces seem to quite magically fit together…just about jumping into your hand and leading it to the right place. This doesn’t last for long, but while it does it’s exhilarating and fills you with the hope that you’ll be done with the puzzle in mere minutes. Keep in mind this is a fun but false hope. There’s always a point no-return. You can declare a puzzle too difficult or boring or time consuming in perhaps the first early stage, but beyond that you realize you’ve invested too much in completing it and cannot put it back in the box unit it’s done. Finishing a puzzle is its own reward. Don’t expect it to save democracy.If you take this as metaphor for what’s transpiring on your TV screens this week, you’re welcome.