Top 8 Puzzle-Solving Tips: How To Do A 1000 Piece Puzzle Faster and Smarter

In the face of a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle, many people, especially beginners, will feel unable to start, and even find it daunting. This is actually quite normal. Although the puzzle is a test of players’ patience, observation, logical thinking and planning skills, it also need some skills. Without skills, but just hard work, not only is the puzzle slow, but you also cannot feel the joy of stress relief from puzzling.

But if we master the right methods and techniques, we can not only improve the speed of completion, but also make the whole process easier, more fun, and more sense of achievement. Here are 8 common and easy-to-use puzzles that will help you solve 1,000 or even 2,000 pieces of a puzzle with ease, relief and a sense of accomplishment.

8 Puzzle Techniques To Share

1. Sort by color or pattern first

This is the most basic method. We can sort all the pieces by color or more obvious patterns, such as sky, grass, buildings, food, flowers, human faces, animals, etc. if the puzzle has sections, the pieces can be grouped by the different colors within each section. Color-coded pieces can quickly locate areas and reduce the time for blind trial and error.

And complex patterns can be further subdivided, such as clouds, leaves, water ripples and so on, the more detailed the subdivision, the more efficient and organized the later puzzle process will be.

2. Start with the edges

Generally speaking, the borders of a puzzle are the easiest to distinguish. The puzzle pieces in the border area must have a straight side or a right angle. We can find the pieces from the puzzle and put the borders together first. After forming the overall outline of the puzzle, the rest will become much easier to assemble. With the border pattern as a reference, we can distinguish the nearby pieces according to the pattern, and then sort the remaining pieces by color/pattern classification. Next, we can piece together along the edges, or complete the pattern in the center of the picture first.

Assembling the border is the easiest part and can easily bring a sense of accomplishment to players, making them more motivated to continue completing the internal puzzle.

3. Start with the main picture

If a puzzle has a large main pattern that distinguishes it from other areas, such as a bouquet of flowers, a dog, a piece of cake, or a Christmas tree, then we can first separate the pieces of the main pattern and complete it.

After the large area is finished, it is easier to determine where the remaining blank pieces go, and also gain a sense of partial completion. And then then we can work outward from the completed section, finishing the rest more quickly.

4. Sort pieces by shape

The puzzle pieces can generally be classified by shape into edges, corners, and special shapes. For example, Ber’s puzzle (only some products) has designed a special shaped piece – fish-shaped piece.

First find the odd-shaped puzzle piece, then find the puzzle pieces around it. The shapes of these puzzle pieces are often significantly different from ordinary puzzle pieces, so you can quickly find and assemble them.

5. Group pieces by shape

If a larger puzzle is not pre-sorted into sections in the packaging, then we can divide the puzzle into several regions ourself. We can divide the puzzle into four areas: top left, top right, bottom left, and bottom right. Using the reference image, select the pieces for one area and complete them one by one. Once the four areas are completed, assemble them into the whole puzzle will provides a great sense of pleasure and satisfaction at the final step.

6. Look for unique lines and shapes

Some puzzle pieces feature continuous line elements, such as a satin ribbon, a long cloud formation, a string of beads, or a simple geometric line. We can locate these pieces and follow the lines to complete that section of the pattern.

Not only lines—any other continuous patterns can also be completed first.

7. Follow the reference image

If we need to complete a complex puzzle more quickly, we can take a picture of the reference image that comes with the box and crop out the rest of the image, then print out the picture according to the size of the puzzle.

After obtaining a 1:1 reference image, we can find a large flat surface, or use a puzzle board, and place the reference image directly beneath the puzzle, allowing us to clearly see where each piece belongs.

8. Use the reference photo

If you’re faced with a difficult puzzle where all the pieces look similar, one effective way to complete it quickly is by finding a photo of a completed puzzle online and using it to compare the positions of the pieces.