Puzzles

Jigsaws, 3D models and twisty cubes:

three quite different hobbies share this shelf. Jigsaws run from 500-piece boxes that fill an evening to 2000-piece panoramas that take over a dining table for a month. Children’s puzzles run from chunky wooden boards with knobs, which also turn up among baby and toddler toys, to cardboard floor puzzles of 24 to 100 pieces. 3D puzzles build a model: foam landmarks for children, and laser-cut wooden kits whose gears and drawers actually move once finished. The third group is twisty and mechanical puzzles, from a toy-shop Rubik’s Cube and metal ring teasers to the magnetic speedcubes competitors use. Logic games with a board, turns and more than one player live under board games.

Piece count, cut and table space for a 1000-piece jigsaw:

the number on the box says how long it will take, but the space decides whether it gets finished. A standard 1000-piece puzzle comes out at about 70 by 50 centimetres, which leaves little room on a small table for sorting edges and colours; a roll-up felt mat or a board with sorting trays lets you clear it away for dinner. The brand matters more than the picture. Ravensburger, Clementoni and Educa cut pieces that lock firmly and print on a matte surface that does not throw back the glare of a ceiling light; cheap unbranded boxes often have loose, gappy pieces and a gloss that makes sky and sea impossible to tell apart.

Speedcubes and Costa Rica’s competition circuit:

official WCA speedcubing competitions run through the year in malls and universities around the Central Valley, from Alajuela to Tres Ríos, and they drive the second-hand cube trade. A budget magnetic 3×3 from QiYi or MoYu is around ₡4,500 to ₡12,000 new, while flagship GAN and MoYu models cost several times that. Competitors change their main cube every few releases and sell the old one, often already set up, so a used flagship is the realistic way into a fast cube. A stickered Rubik’s Cube from a toy shop is a different object: fine for learning, too stiff to time.

Missing pieces, bent tabs and cloned cubes:

a used jigsaw is only worth its box if every piece is in it. Ask whether it has been done and counted; a sealed inner bag means nobody has opened it. If you can, weigh fifty pieces on a kitchen scale, multiply, and compare with the whole lot: it is quicker than counting and close enough to catch a gap. Look for pieces with peeled print or bent tabs, a sign the puzzle was stepped on or left on the floor, and for traces of puzzle glue, which mean it was once mounted. Counterfeits of big-brand jigsaws exist too; a misspelt title, a design missing from the maker’s catalogue or a loose fit gives them away. On a cube, turn every face for a minute. Pops, corners that twist out of place, grinding or a rattle from a loose magnet mean worn pieces or a bad setup. Clones of flagship models are passed off as the real thing, so ask for the box and, with a GAN, the identity card that comes in it.

A finished jigsaw or a retired main cube, ready to list:

photograph the box front and back, then the puzzle assembled if you still have it. Give the brand, piece count and title, say whether it was done once and counted afterwards, and keep the pieces in a closed bag inside the box. For a cube, name the model and version, the magnet setting, whether it is lubed and with what, and add a short video of it turning. A jigsaw that has been glued and framed has stopped being a puzzle: say so in the title, with the frame size, because it is a picture now and anyone looking for something to assemble will scroll straight past it.