P. F. Inc. Sedona, Arizona
HomeHard & Difficult & Impossible
These puzzles had us cussing, drinking, and blaming the other for choosing them. HOWEVER, since we are professionals, we did finish them.
Cat & Mouse by Bepuzzled - 750
Suzanne did this one by herself. Or else I am so old I have forgotten it completely. It must have been tough because look at all that cat hair!
Worlds Most Difficult Puzzle by Buffalo Games
The Original Devil's Nightmare 500 pieces double sided depicting the same artwork on both sides rotated 90 degrees with respect to each other. It is impossible to distinguish one side from the other. Each piece must be compared on both sides for size, shape, and color. Truly diabolical!
Worlds Most Difficult Puzzle by Buffalo Games
Tennis 529 pieces double sided depicting the same artwork on both sides rotated 90 degrees with respect to each other. The die cuts the puzzle once from each side so top and bottom are identical.
Title Unknown
One of the most difficult puzzle to date! Frustration made "imbibing of spirits" a requirement in order to maintain sanity. All pieces were straight edged and kept sliding around until we taped the back.
Tick Talk by Impossibles - 750+ 9/16/13
Warning: you won't even get any hints from the box top; it's not a true representation of the completed puzzle! Found this at Goodwill. It is SO DIFFICULT that the previous put-er-together-er decided to help us out by inking B (border) or E (extra) on the backs of some pieces. It has 3? 5? more? extra pieces and no edges. Even though we consider ourselves as "professionals" when it comes to puzzles....we are GRATEFUL! Suzanne did her "super sorter" thing and has a logical and very organized plan. Ruth is totally confused but occasionally gets two pieces together and with MUCH celebration! Very fun puzzle but very hard work.
Purple Madness by F. X. Schmid - 600
Dear Niece Christine......we hate you!! Check out the picture to see the effect it had on Suzanne. The wine was necessary therapy. This was by far the most difficult puzzle we have encountered. AND note the five missing pieces. We had two road crossings on windy days and a flat foam board is impossible to hold steady. Those five pieces are probably in Chris' back yard in Minnesota, yes it was that windy. Not to say we didn't have a blast working on this one, but it took us weeks and weeks and our sanity. It is named Purple Madness for good reason.
UPDATE: Another piece was found behind Ruth's bench....only 4 are AWOL. UPDATE: June 1st, Suzanne found a piece crossing the street. YEA!! UPDATE: June 16th, Ruth found yet another piece at the end of her driveway.
Dolphin by Robert Silvers - 1000
This one was a super challenge donated by Christine. Each little piece is either a complete photograph or a part of one (usually 3 or 4) and they are ALL almost the same color. Suzanne is the "Super Sorter" and she has organized, reorganized and re-reorganized rows and rows of pieces according to shape. Or else we picked up a piece, placed it on the picture with our noses four inches away and then scrolled through 1600 teensy photos in order to find it's place. OH MY!!! We kept asking ourselves if we are NUTS!!! Yes, we must be.
Alfred Hitchcock Mystery - 1000
Niece Christine sent this one......thank you, Chris. It was all in shades of black, white and grey and we had NO CLUE to what the picture looked like. It took a WHOLE WEEK to finish this. For professionals like us, that is unheard of! I even cheated and looked for a picture on the internet and found a real bad image which did not help at all. And SOMEONE held the booklet up to the mirror even before we finished the puzzle to find out who the killer was. That someone wasn't Ruth. It was a lot harder than the finished picture looks.....really. SO.....here's to all you people searching for a solution to this mystery puzzle.
Porcupine Eggs by Winter Woods - 500
This is one of the puzzles Suzanne gave Ruth for her birthday. Had it been 750 pieces, Ruth would have dissolved the corporation and crossed Suzanne off her friend list. This puzzle is SO difficult......I know.....it doesn't look THAT difficult, but trust me it is. We have laid every piece out according to shape and pick up a piece and run down the rows to check each and every possible match. And to make things worse, the picture wraps around the box edges and is covered up. We will still be working on this one come Christmas I am afraid. We keep saying "We must be nuts!" and sadly, we are.
Update: It took us one month to finish this! Part of the problem was that the picture was upside down from the cover photo. And although the top was accurate, the sides were 2 & 3 rows more and the bottom was six more rows of pieces not counting the white border. Are we ever GLAD this one is completed!
Peacock by Alex Beard Non-interlocking Impossible - 1000
Actually because we are now Puzzle Pros, this was not that difficult for an Impossible puzzle. They even tried to fool us with five extra/duplicate pieces. Pat, pat, pat on our backs!
PhotoMosaics Earth by Robert Silvers - 1000
It took us a LONG time to finish this. It was almost impossible for the Super Sorter to sort this but she did an amazing job.
Suzanne is completely exhausted by Purple Madness, our worst, hardest, most frustrating puzzle of all times. There were five missing pieces and I think we threw it in the trash.
PhotoMosaics Monarch Butterfly by Robert Silvers - 1000
Another HARD puzzle causing squinty eyes and use of magnifying glasses. But look how lovely!
Ascending and Descending by M. C. Escher - 1000
Oh boy.....a real challenge lent from a WAG friend. We were having BIG trouble just doing the edges because pieces "seem" to fit perfectly and they were still WRONG!!! This is a tear your hair out - we need more wine puzzle. I kept telling Suzanne "We can do this....we are pros!" But every so often one of us said "Is it too late to put it back in the box?". And that's just what we did! When we aren't having FUN, that is the thing to do!
