National Parks 1,000 Piece Panoramic Puzzle

I was taken by this illustration, maybe because I have been to two of those parks. This was my first panoramic puzzle. I thought, because it was 4 distinct illustrations, it would be pretty easy - like doing four 250 piece puzzles. I decided on medium difficulty because there were some pretty tricky areas, especially limited colors and the Grand Canyon. But that’s not the half of the issues with this puzzle.

Quality: Out of the gate, everything looked pretty good. Seems a lot of brands box their panoramic puzzles in long boxes, no exception here. It measures 18.5” x 1.75”. It is attractive, sturdy, and has a full illustration on the cover. Inside, the pieces were in a disposable plastic bag and a full size poster was included. There was no puzzle dust. The rather glossy, sturdy pieces were a nice thickness, none were together uncut or damaged, none were missing. That’s it for the good. The bad made building this puzzle beyond frustrating. First, it would have been nice if the colors on the box top and poster actually matched the colors on the puzzle pieces. They did not. But the major offender was false fits. They occurred throughout the puzzle. For those, and even pieces tried but didn’t quite fit, it was almost impossible to remove therm. Amazingly, pieces survived without damage pulling one out, or sections apart. I guess that’s a plus, but the need to do it was aggravating, to say the least! The only fun I had was deciding I was going to defeat the puzzle at its own game, and finish the miserable thing.

The mantra: Find the edge pieces and sort by color. I did that happily and diligently, not knowing how annoying the construction would be. I sorted each illustration separately - the text and each distinguishing color, including sorts of lights and darks, and particular characteristics like the Yosemite wind lines.

Construction: I built the frame. The bottom row had a text sentence below each park, so that was free of false fits, not so for the rest of the frame — aarrgghh! The sorting made it easy to also put in the vertical rows dividing the four illustrations. You guessed it, more false fits. All the pieces were the same 2 in / 2 out traditional shape. I did lay out each sort, but it is less helpful when all the pieces look so much alike. The one big clue is the pieces alternate from horizontal to vertical. I left the Grand Canyon for last. Time wise it was the most complicated.

(See picture 1) So — Pick up off the table tight piece fit is usually a good thing. Too tight, not so much. Yes, I finished it, and yes, I could pick it up. I could throw it up in the air and catch it. But will I ever get it apart? Okay, so I’m smiling now. And in the end, I’m having fun with it. Ah, the puzzling process. I get lost in it, good or bad. Clear my mind and be at peace. Serenity. There is nothing better!

Conclusion: Caveat Emptor. I am hard pressed to recommend this puzzle, it was simply too frustrating because of the quality issues. Really a shame - the finished product is quite enjoyable to admire. But really being there, looking up to the sky at Zion or down to the depths at the Grand Canyon — there are not words enough to describe the wonder that is nature’s grandeur.