How to Do a Jigsaw Puzzle: A Beginner's Guide
To do a jigsaw puzzle, turn every piece picture-side up, find the corners and straight-edged pieces and build the frame, then sort the rest into colour groups and fill in the picture one area at a time, starting with the most distinctive parts. Beginners do best with a small puzzle, a well-lit flat space and the picture on the box (or screen) close by.
What is a jigsaw puzzle?
A jigsaw puzzle is a picture cut into small interlocking pieces that you fit back together. Most pieces join their neighbours with rounded tabs (the bits that stick out, also called knobs) and blanks (the holes they slot into). Every piece belongs in exactly one place, so the puzzle is finished when the picture is whole again.
The name comes from the fine saws once used to cut wooden puzzles; the first ones, made in London around 1760, were maps cut up to teach geography. Today most are printed card, and a growing number are played on screens, like GameLake's free online jigsaws.
Choosing your first puzzle
The number of pieces matters most, but it isn't the only thing that makes a puzzle hard. A clear picture with lots of different colours and objects is far easier than one with big areas of plain sky, sea or snow, because plain areas leave you nothing but the shapes to go on.
- Start small. On paper, a few hundred pieces is a comfortable first project; online, a dozen to a few dozen pieces is a good first sitting.
- Pick a busy, colourful picture with distinct objects: animals, buildings, boats, flowers.
- Avoid big plain areas, gradients and repeating patterns until you have a few puzzles behind you.
- Step up gradually. When a puzzle starts to feel easy, roughly double the piece count for the next one.
GameLake's modes follow the same ladder. Every picture is a wide illustrated scene, cut into a grid of pieces:
| Mode | Grid | Pieces | Border pieces | Ghost picture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 4 × 3 | 12 | 10 | On |
| Daily | 6 × 5 | 30 | 18 | Optional |
| Medium | 7 × 5 | 35 | 20 | Optional |
| Hard | 9 × 7 | 63 | 28 | None |
Set up your space
For a puzzle on the table, a little setup saves a lot of searching later:
- A flat surface bigger than the finished puzzle, with room around it for sorted piles.
- Good, even light. Shadows and glare make similar colours look the same.
- The box lid or a picture where you can see it without moving pieces.
- A few trays, plates or lids to keep colour groups apart.
- If the puzzle has to move before it's done, a board or roll-up mat underneath lets you lift it without breaking it apart.
On a phone or computer, the setup is done for you. On GameLake the board fits your screen, the loose pieces wait in a tray you can swipe through, and the picture is one tap away under Ghost, which shows a faint copy on the board itself.
Step by step: how to put a jigsaw together
- Turn every piece face up. You can't sort what you can't see. On screen the pieces already come face up and the right way round.
- Find the corners. They have two straight sides, and there are only four.
- Collect the edge pieces (one straight side) and join them into the frame. The frame tells you the size of the picture and gives every other piece something to attach to.
- Sort the middle pieces by colour into rough groups: sky, water, grass, bright details.
- Fill the distinctive parts first: faces, writing, strong outlines and bright colours, using the picture as a map.
- Build outward from what's placed. A gap with neighbours on two or three sides is far easier to fill than an empty space.
- Leave plain areas for last, and sort those pieces by shape: count the tabs and blanks on each side.
Two loose pieces that obviously belong together can be joined before you know where they go. On GameLake, drop one next to its partner and they snap together and move as one.
When you get stuck
- Switch method. If you've been looking for the piece that fits a gap, pick up a piece and look for its gap instead.
- Check the shape, not just the colour. A gap with blanks on both sides needs a piece with tabs on both of those sides.
- Take a short break. Coming back with fresh eyes is often all it takes.
- Use the picture. On GameLake, switch on Ghost (in Easy it's always on), tap Edges to see only straight-sided pieces, or tap Teach me to have Hop highlight a piece and show where it goes.
Once the basics feel easy, the next step is speed. How to Do a Jigsaw Puzzle Faster has ten tips for that, and on GameLake a fast finish without Teach me earns three stars: about 6 seconds a piece on Easy, 7 on Medium and the Daily, and 8 on Hard.
Frequently asked questions
What is a jigsaw puzzle?
A picture cut into many interlocking pieces that you fit back together. Pieces join with rounded tabs that slot into matching blanks on their neighbours.
What is the first step in doing a jigsaw puzzle?
Turn all the pieces face up, then find the four corners and the straight-edged pieces and build the frame.
How many pieces should a beginner start with?
Something you can finish in one or two sittings: a few hundred pieces on paper, or 12 to 35 pieces online. A colourful, busy picture makes any size easier.
Why are jigsaw puzzles called jigsaws?
After the fine saws used to cut wooden puzzles. The earliest ones, from around 1760, were maps glued to wood and cut along the borders.
Do you need to rotate pieces in GameLake jigsaws?
No. Every piece is already the right way up, so you only need to find where it goes.