Know your puzzle
Every Suvi picture is 4:3, wider than it is tall, and each size has its own cut.
| Pieces | Grid | Frame | Middle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 4 × 3 | 10 | 2 |
| 35 | 7 × 5 | 20 | 15 |
| 70 | 10 × 7 | 30 | 40 |
Two things are different from a cardboard puzzle. Pieces never need turning: every one is the right way up. And a piece only stays on the board in its own spot. Drop it anywhere else and it slides back to the tray, so you can't build loose sections, but every piece you place is right and a wrong try costs only a moment.
Do the frame first
Edge pieces have one flat side and corners have two, so they're the easiest to place, and the finished frame gives you fixed landmarks to work in from.
- Tap Edges (or press E). The tray shows only frame pieces.
- Find the four corners first.
- Build the top and bottom edges: on a 70-piece that's eight pieces between the corners. Then the sides, five pieces each.
- When the last frame piece goes in, Suvi tells you and every piece comes back to the tray.
On the 35 the frame is more than half the pieces, and on the 70 it's 30 of them, so this is never wasted time.
Sort by colour, then start with what stands out
On a table you'd make piles: sky, water, buildings, greenery. On a screen, do it with your eyes as you page through the tray. Then:
- Start with the most distinctive thing in the picture: a lighthouse, a boat, a window, a hot-air balloon. Strong shapes and colours are quick to place.
- Grow out from what you've placed. A piece next to two placed pieces is far easier to find than one in the open.
- Leave the big plain areas for last, when there are fewer pieces left to choose from.
- Tap Mix (or press M) when the tray stops making sense. Seeing pieces next to different neighbours often makes a match jump out.
Read the shapes and the shading
Every inside side of a piece is either a tab that sticks out or a blank that's cut in, and a tab always meets a blank. Each cut is slightly hand-drawn, so no two knobs are quite alike. Once two neighbours of a gap are placed, the gap tells you what you need: say, a blank at the top and a tab on the left. Look only for pieces with that pair.
For plain areas, look at the shading. Suvi's painter grades its skies from top to horizon, so a sky piece's shade tells you roughly which row it belongs in. Every picture is also slightly darker towards its edges and corners than in the middle, and big areas of sky and sea carry soft light and dark patches, so no two plain pieces are quite the same.
Ghost, hints and Bigger
- Ghost (G) shows a faint copy of the picture on the board, and it's on to begin with. With it on, match a piece's colours to the faint picture and tap there. Turn it off for a proper challenge.
- Hint (H) lights up where a piece goes. Pick a piece first and the hint is for that one. With nothing picked, it chooses for you: corners and edges while the frame is open, then pieces beside ones you've placed. One a day is free.
- Bigger (Z), or a pinch, zooms in. On the 70, zoom in for the plain areas: small shifts in colour are easier to see. While you drag a piece near the edge of a zoomed board, the board moves along with you.
A plan for 70 pieces, and three things to remember
- Edges on: corners, then the frame.
- Edges off: place the two or three most distinctive objects.
- Grow out from everything you've placed, one neighbour at a time.
- Finish the plain areas using shape and shading; zoom in if you need to.
- Mix the tray whenever you go a minute without a match.
If you only remember three things: frame first, start with what stands out, and leave the sky for last.
Try it on today's picture; the 35 is a good place to practise the frame.
Questions
- Do I need to rotate the pieces?
- No. Every piece in a Suvi jigsaw is already the right way up, so you only have to find where it goes.
- What happens if I put a piece in the wrong place?
- It slides back to the tray and nothing is lost. Your result shows your time and how many hints you used.
- How do I find where a plain sky piece goes?
- Use its shade, which changes from the top of the sky to the horizon, and its shape: once two neighbours of a gap are placed, you know which sides need a tab and which a blank.
- Do these tips work on a cardboard jigsaw?
- Yes. Edges first, sorting by colour and reading tabs and blanks all come from table puzzles. On a table you can also build sections loose and join them later.
Play it now
Jigsaw is free on Suvi, on your phone or computer, no download.