Counting Pieces Does Not Confirm All The Pieces Are There

How to Count Puzzle Pieces

First thing - the cut will determine how many pieces are in a puzzle. The person who designed the cutting pattern grid or the company/manufacturer who chooses the cutting pattern grid will know how many pieces are in the puzzle. Most boxes say approximately 1000 pieces or 500 pieces, etc. so it does not mean there are exactly that many pieces in the puzzle. Note they sometimes use the word ' approximately ’ on the box but not always.

Some companies tend to ‘ round up ’ or ‘ round down

’ the number. The box on the New York City Window states 32,000 pieces but the details in the pamphlet states 32,256 pieces. That’ s a pretty big number of pieces that is not recognized as countable pieces at first glance. And that situation is not uncommon for a lot of puzzles.

Now random cut puzzles are somewhat unpredictable when it comes to the ‘ approximate ’ number of pieces in a puzzle. The random cuts can vary from pretty small pieces to larger ‘ chunky ’ pieces. That makes it quite difficult to get a count unless you actually count it manually.

Then there are the ‘ graduated’ cut puzzles. These are used mostly for ‘family

’ puzzles. By graduated pieces, it means there are quite large pieces (say) on the right side and the pieces gradually get smaller on the left side. The idea is to make the puzzle user friendly for families where the younger children can assemble the right side using the big pieces and the adults can assemble the smaller pieces on the left side.

We should also mention wood cut pieces. Now, more often these days, we see wooden puzzles with many random cuts making it difficult to get a count on puzzles. So since the puzzle ‘tiles ’ are cut with ‘ whimsies ’ it makes the cuts difficult to determine and the image is usually based on approximate pieces. You may not have heard of pieces cut like cattails. Now these are really interesting to assemble as they are about as far out of puzzle shape pieces I have ever seen that relates to a jigsaw puzzle. They are referred to as long curly interlocking pieces.

Since the re-boom of jigsaw puzzles in 2020, the demand for creativity generally speaking about puzzles, has become a HUGE competition and the count/shapes of pieces is just one part of that competition.

So...you

' ve searched the internet for the exact number of pieces or contacted the Company to ask exactly how many pieces or your puzzle does not fit into the calculations shared above and you still do not have the answer - what do you do?

There really is only one answer. Physically do the jigsaw puzzle yourself. That will accomplish 2 things. One, you get an accurate count and 2, you will know IF there are any missing pieces - cause even the Company, manufacturer or the pattern cut designer cannot know IF there is a piece missing, right?

And to assist you with counting your pieces while you are assembling it, use a handy counting tool that is simply worn on your finger. Use a click for every piece you put into the correct place. It makes counting pieces a whole lot more fun!