Last Updated on February 12, 2024 by JigsawPuzzleGuru
UPDATED – Have you ever heard someone describe ask “What qualifies as a large jigsaw puzzle?” If so, did you feel that you were clear on what they meant by large at the time? What exactly do we mean when we call a jigsaw a “large jigsaw puzzle”? This is the core question we want to answer in today’s blog.
Let’s dive right in and look at the different ways that jigsaw puzzles might be considered “large.” Broadly speaking, there are three ways: the puzzle’s dimensions, the number of pieces, and the size of the individual pieces.
Table of Contents
What are “Large” Jigsaw Puzzles
Dimensions
Most jigsaw puzzle brands share similarities in the dimensions of their pieces. The smallest puzzles are usually about 10 x 15 inches, with some variation. For instance, Wimberley Puzzle Co. uses 10 x 15 inches, but Buffalo uses 11 x 15 inches, and Springbok 8.5 x 11 inches is their smallest size.
At the larger end of the scale, you have puzzles of 18 x 20 inches, or 22 x 23 inches, or even with getting up to 30 inches or more. The most giant puzzle ever created in dimensions was an astonishing 65,905.17 square feet, put together in Dubai in July 2018. The fact is that technically speaking, there’s little limit on what kind of final dimensions can be created because it just depends on your equipment and wherewithal to get the job done. Smaller machines can finish larger designs in segments that then complete a larger single puzzle.
Number of Pieces
Perhaps the most common way people think about jigsaws being large or small is in how many pieces they contain. The most basic puzzles for young children typically have less than 100 pieces. They then go up in increments to 250, 500, 750, 1000, etc. A puzzle of 1,000 pieces or over would likely be considered “large.”
However, when you consider that more special puzzles contain 2,000, 5,000, or even 10,000 pieces or more, a 1,000 piece puzzle. The largest puzzle in the world in 2020 was a 51,300-piece from Kodak that cost upwards of $400 to buy. It depicted many of the world’s greatest wonders and landmarks. This puzzle was made up of 27 different puzzles that are then pieced together to form a single puzzle covering 28.5 x 6.25 feet.
A story of a man in Germany, Peter Schubert, took to the press in March 2021 as Schubert claimed he put together a very similar version of the Kodak product with 54,000 pieces. Schubert’s jigsaw was called “Travel Around Art,” and French producer Grafika manufactured it. It depicts 50 of the world’s great artistic masterpieces covering 29 separate “posters,” which form 1 huge puzzle covering 60 square feet.
Size of Pieces
Finally, one might consider a puzzle large or small based on the size of the pieces. Smaller pieces are obviously more challenging as smaller pieces invariably mean a lot more of them. Of course, it depends on the relative size of the finished puzzle as well. A puzzle of 200,000 large pieces would still be pretty tough to put together over a huge area than a 10,000-piece puzzle made of smaller pieces.
Of course, the trick with piece sizes is in how much of the picture they reveal. Children’s jigsaws with 100 pieces or so each reveal a good amount of detail, conducive to building up a child’s mental and cognitive ability. However, those designed for adults with smaller pieces are so challenging because so little detail is seen. What’s even more challenging are small pieces that come together to form block colors.
Why Does It Matter How Large the Puzzle Is?
Challenge
When it comes to jigsaw puzzles, does size matter that much? For many, the relative size of the puzzle, be it in surface area, the number of pieces or the size of the pieces, dictates how much of a challenging factor there is. Of course, there are other ways to measure difficulty in the world of jigsaws, including the image itself and how it’s structured, and whether or not the image you’re aiming for is even provided on the box or within the box.
For veteran puzzlers, the thought of going to smaller puzzles is unthinkable if you’ve spent time getting good at finishing puzzles of a specific size. If you’ve done 20 puzzles of 3,000 or more pieces in the past year, then you’re unlikely going to be impressed by the prospect of a puzzle smaller than that number of pieces. But, of course, the other challenge factors that we’ve mentioned might still tempt you. For example, a 2,000-piece puzzle of solid black of a starry sky is arguably more challenging than a 3,000-piece image of a portrait or landscape with very distinguishable features.
Practicality
Another key factor in choosing the size of your puzzle is how practical that puzzle then becomes for you to finish. For example, is the puzzle going to fit on your puzzle table or another surface in your home? Is it a size that you can practically mount and frame to display in your home? Without thinking about these things, a puzzle can quickly become as much of a problem as it is a joy to finish.
Another matter of practicality to consider is whether or not this size of the puzzle is suitable for your current level. For example, some suppose they can skip all the processes it takes to become good at jigsaws and just jump straight in at the deep end. Well, there are certainly a minority of very prodigious people who might well be able to do that, but for most people, it’s just a one-way ticket to hating jigsaws.
Most enthusiasts spend time getting good at puzzles by completing smaller ones first and then building up perhaps in increments of a few hundred pieces. There are skills to master, like locating and isolating the edge pieces, matching pieces to detail in the picture, grouping, and systematically going
through the pieces to find the ones that go together. You should pick jigsaw sizes that are commensurate with your current level.
Achievement Factor
Finally, the size of the jigsaw matters depending on how much of an achievement factor you want at the end of the process. Suppose you are someone who is keen on sharing their jigsaw achievements online via social media. In that case, you need plenty of big splashy challenges with impressive numbers of pieces, huge surface areas, and challenging content. In this case, the “large” jigsaw is the one that generates the most incredible sense of victory and achievement.
Conclusion: It’s All Relative
From all this, we can see that the reality of what qualifies as a large jigsaw puzzle does rather depend on one’s level and experience and what they consider to be challenging. It’s fair to say that a “large” jigsaw puzzle is also thought of as one that is challenging to finish. In most cases, 1,000 pieces is a good threshold for large, but for the more experienced puzzler, 5,000 might be a more accurate threshold.