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Each piece has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture.

The French term for jigsaw puzzle is "casse-tete", or "break-head", referring to the imputed difficulty of solving.

Jigsaw puzzles were originally created by painting a picture on a flat, rectangular piece of wood, and then cutting that picture into small pieces with a jigsaw, hence the name. John Spilsbury , a London mapmaker and engraver, is credited with creating the first jigsaw puzzle around 1760. Most modern jigsaw puzzles are made out of cardboard, since they are easier and cheaper to mass produce. An enlarged photograph or printed reproduction of a painting or other two-dimensional artwork is then glued onto the cardboard before cutting. The pieces are punch-cut with complex metal dies.

Typical images found on jigsaw puzzles include scenes from nature, buildings, and repetitive designs. Castles and mountainThis article is about the landform. For other meanings, see Mountain (disambiguation). Mount Cook, a mountain in New Zealand A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. A mountain is generally much higher and stes have long been two of the favorite subjects. Many people solve jigsaw puzzles as a hobbyThis article is about pastimes. For the bird species, see hobby (bird). For the horse species, see hobby (horse). For the airport, see Hobby Airport. A hobby is a spare-time recreational pursuit. In the Middle Ages, falconry was a very popular pastime (wh.

Children's jigsaw puzzles come in a great variety of sizes, rated by the number of pieces. Adult jigsaw puzzles typically come in 500-piece, 750-piece, and 1,000-piece sizes, and even more, currently the biggest commercially available size is 18,000 pieces. These are not the exact counts, which always slightly exceed these. The most common layout for a thousand-piece puzzle is 38 pieces wide by 27 pieces, for a total count of 1,026 pieces. The majority of 500-piece puzzles are 27 pieces by 19 pieces.

The method of cutting pieces varies from puzzle line to puzzle line. Many puzzles are termed "fully interlocking". This means that adjacent pieces are connecting such that if you move one piece horizontally you move all, preserving the connection. Sometimes the connection is tight enough to pick up a solved part holding one piece.

Some fully interlocking puzzles have pieces all of a similar shape, with rounded tabs out on opposite ends, with corresponding blanks cut into the intervening sides to receive the tabs of adjacent pieces. Other fully interlocking puzzles may have tabs and blanks variously arranged on each piece, but they usually have four sides, and the numbers of tabs and blanks thus add up to four.

Some puzzles also have pieces with noninterlocking sides that are usually slightly curved in complex curves. These are actually the easiest puzzles to solve, since fewer other pieces are potential candidates for mating. However, a solved part is easily messed up by accidental shock etc.

The uniform-shaped fully interlocking puzzles are the most difficult, because the differences in shapes between pieces can be very subtle. Occasionally, some puzzles have bizarre cuts to make solving more interesting.

Two puzzles of the same size and series from the same manufacturer usually have exactly the same cut, since the cutting dies are complex and expensive to make and so are used repeatedly from puzzle to puzzle. This enables disparate puzzles to be combined in odd ways. Bigger puzzles commonly are also divided into two or more sections, sometimes rotated against each other, that were cut with the same standard-sized die.

A few puzzles are made double-sided, so that they can be solved from either side, which adds a level of complexity, because one can't be certain that the correct sides of the pieces are being viewed.

Some people glue completed puzzles to a backing for permanent display. This is a fairly rare practice today, but was more common at a time when puzzles were more of a novelty.

There are also three-dimensional jigsaw puzzles. Many of these are made of wood and require the puzzle to be solved in a certain order; some pieces will not fit in if others are already in place. Also common are puzzle boxes: simple three dimensional jigsaw puzzles with a small drawer or box in the center for storage.

The (U.S.) National Jigsaw Puzzle Championship was formerly held in Athens, OhioAthens is a small city and the county seat of Athens County in southeastern Ohio, USA, on the Hocking River. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 21,342. History The first permanent European settlers arrived in Athens in 1797. In 1800 in 1982Events January January 6 William Bonin is convicted of being the "freeway killer". January 8 AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 Mark Thatcher, son of the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, disappears in the Sahara du- 871987 is a common year starting on Thursday. Events January January 1 Nunavut's capital changes it name to Iqaluit from Frobisher Bay. January 3 Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. January 4 An Amtrak train and 1990Events January January 3 Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces. January 7 The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns. January 9 Lt Gen Bazilio Olara Okello The man who led the coup aginst Dr Apo.