If you're a jigsaw puzzle enthusiast I have a question for you

[aboveH20]

Following shoulder surgery four weeks ago I've been in an arm sling, so dug out a jigsaw puzzle I got for my kids years ago. I hate to think how many hours I spent putting it together (haven't done a puzzle in YEARS) but finally finished it -- almost.

I have four holes left and four puzzle pieces left, but they don't fit. I've already invested enough of my life in doing the puzzle, I'm not gong to start taking it a part to find the errors(s) of my ways.

My question for those of you who do puzzles regularly, is this common to end up with renegade pieces?

 

[diznygirl]

My guess: you have four pieces in the sky that are in the wrong spots that belong to your leftover pieces.

Good luck!

 

[wenrob]

Time to bust out the magnifying glass and start examining your sky.

 

[Hikergirl]

I agree with the others, somewhere in your sky you have 4 pieces that don't fit quite right.

 

[bjscheel]

That's irritating! I did that puzzle, had it framed and hung it in my bedroom!

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I agree with the others. You have some pieces out of place in your sky. So the question is: How motivated are you to get every piece in place?

 

[usnuzuloose]

I agree pieces are out of place, I have done that. Take a magnifying glass and look closely you might catch them.

 

[aboveH20]

Time to bust out the magnifying glass and start examining your sky.

Yeah, that's not gonna happen. Too many aging brain cells already devoted to the project

That's irritating! I did that puzzle, had it framed and hung it in my bedroom!

Wow. I'm impressed. Once upon a time I considered framing it, but . . .

I agree with the others. You have some pieces out of place in your sky. So the question is: How motivated are you to get every piece in place?

Not. Motivated. At. All! In fact, I was so happy to be done with it it's been taken apart and put back in the box where it can't annoy me any more.

 

[bjscheel]

15 years ago I did a puzzle I wanted to frame, and ended up with 27 missing pieces. My 3 year old insisted she hadn't touched it. The company sent me another, and I started over. Years later, I found in a box of toddler clothes in my storage room an old tea tin of my grandmother's that my daughter used to play with. Inside were 27 puzzle pieces...

 

[barb969]

Once I did a puzzle of the NYC subway map. There were 2 of the same piece and a missing piece. I am sure that it was the same piece because they both had "ver" on them for the bridge. Maybe you got duplicates of those 4 pieces and are missing the ones you need.

 

[aboveH20]

15 years ago I did a puzzle I wanted to frame, and ended up with 27 missing pieces. My 3 year old insisted she hadn't touched it. The company sent me another, and I started over. Years later, I found in a box of toddler clothes in my storage room an old tea tin of my grandmother's that my daughter used to play with. Inside were 27 puzzle pieces...

I love it!

Once I did a puzzle of the NYC subway map. There were 2 of the same piece and a missing piece. I am sure that it was the same piece because they both had "ver" on them for the bridge. Maybe you got duplicates of those 4 pieces and are missing the ones you need.

I wonder. To me the baffling part is that the four pieces I have "left over" are nothing like the holes I have. My son suggested using a mallet to get them to fit, but I'd actually need an exacto knife, some putty and a bit of blue paint. I'm not sure if there is a section with four incorrect parts or if four different times I managed to get a part that was quite close but not an exact match. Of course, then I go back to the parts I have left are nothing like the spaces I have, so I wonder if your theory is right.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

I'm guessing you're not OCD? There's no way in the world I would have been able to break that apart without finding the rogue pieces and finishing.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I love it!



I wonder. To me the baffling part is that the four pieces I have "left over" are nothing like the holes I have. My son suggested using a mallet to get them to fit, but I'd actually need an exacto knife, some putty and a bit of blue paint. I'm not sure if there is a section with four incorrect parts or if four different times I managed to get a part that was quite close but not an exact match. Of course, then I go back to the parts I have left are nothing like the spaces I have, so I wonder if your theory is right.

I would've hired my son to do the magnifying glass thing.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

I'm guessing you're not OCD? There's no way in the world I would have been able to break that apart without finding the rogue pieces and finishing.

This would be me as well...in fact, I'm stressing out about the fact that the OP can't make the pieces fit and I just want to have her send me the puzzle so I can figure it out for her.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm guessing you're not OCD? There's no way in the world I would have been able to break that apart without finding the rogue pieces and finishing.

Same here! And if I somehow talked myself into walking away, my daughter would have come along and asked how I could live with myself not completing it properly!

 

[aboveH20]

I'm guessing you're not OCD? There's no way in the world I would have been able to break that apart without finding the rogue pieces and finishing.

True, not OCD. I think part of the reason I was so quick to take it apart was the number of hours I'd already spent on it (do you see how much green and blue there is??!?). I was pleased with myself for finishing it. Well, finishing it minus 4.

I would've hired my son to do the magnifying glass thing.

He'd need a telescope to go with the magnifying glass. I'm in New York, he's in California.

This would be me as well...in fact, I'm stressing out about the fact that the OP can't make the pieces fit and I just want to have her send me the puzzle so I can figure it out for her.

PM me you address and I will gladly mail it to you -- and just like Amazon Prime , free shipping!

Same here! And if I somehow talked myself into walking away, my daughter would have come along and asked how I could live with myself not completing it properly!

Part of me wonders if I went back to the puzzle in a week if I could have "quickly" fixed it, but the available pieces were so unlike the holes that I assume some section must need a major rework.

<----- Replace computer with puzzle.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

I totally understand. I spent two years doing a giant Hawaiian landscape. You can imagine how much fun it is to match up palm trees at a sunset on a beach... anyways...

I finally finished it. FINALLY. So I put it on top of a high shelf to be safe while I got the frame and all. As I'm taking it down off the shelf... what happens... I drop it... and one of the center pieces pops out and vanishes into oblivion!!!! AUGH!!!!! I just don't even know what to do now... and yes I have SCOURED every place it could have fallen. Even took a fresh vacuum and sucked up the whole area and went through the canister outside on a towel.... no luck.

 

[mom2rtk]

I totally understand. I spent two years doing a giant Hawaiian landscape. You can imagine how much fun it is to match up palm trees at a sunset on a beach... anyways...

I finally finished it. FINALLY. So I put it on top of a high shelf to be safe while I got the frame and all. As I'm taking it down off the shelf... what happens... I drop it... and one of the center pieces pops out and vanishes into oblivion!!!! AUGH!!!!! I just don't even know what to do now... and yes I have SCOURED every place it could have fallen. Even took a fresh vacuum and sucked up the whole area and went through the canister outside on a towel.... no luck.

 

[aboveH20]

I totally understand. I spent two years doing a giant Hawaiian landscape. You can imagine how much fun it is to match up palm trees at a sunset on a beach... anyways...

I finally finished it. FINALLY. So I put it on top of a high shelf to be safe while I got the frame and all. As I'm taking it down off the shelf... what happens... I drop it... and one of the center pieces pops out and vanishes into oblivion!!!! AUGH!!!!! I just don't even know what to do now... and yes I have SCOURED every place it could have fallen. Even took a fresh vacuum and sucked up the whole area and went through the canister outside on a towel.... no luck.

Wow! I can't imagine the frustration level after spending two years, planning to frame it, AND having finished it. I'm not so much frustrated as to curious to know what I did wrong and if it's common to end up with misguided pieces as I did.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Wow! I can't imagine the frustration level after spending two years, planning to frame it, AND having finished it. I'm not so much frustrated as to curious to know what I did wrong and if it's common to end up with misguided pieces as I did.

Oh totally. Assembly Try #1 found me in the exact same predicament. I built it on a glass tabletop so thankfully I was able to secure it with cardboard and painters tape in a way that I could see the backside of the pieces.