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Jigsaw puzzles provide fun for the individual or the whole family. For those who make a serious hobby of puzzles, there are a few jigsaw puzzle tips that’ll make the process quicker, easier, and more fun, even when it comes to the most large and difficult of puzzles. Read on to find out about the best jigsaw puzzle tips.

Turning over a new piece

When you get started, spread out your pieces and turn them all over so that you can see the coloured side. As you’re doing this, sort them roughly according to colour, setting aside all of the edge pieces.

You’ve been framed

Use the four corners pieces to form the beginning of a frame, then try to put together all of the corner pieces. You don’t need to be too exact about this, as you’ll do the rest as you go along, but this step will give you a better idea of the size of the puzzle you’re working on.

Take it easy

There’s no shame in starting with the easy bits of the puzzle – and those will be the ones with the most detail. These pieces will show you clearly how and where they join up with each other. Once you on to more difficult sections – for example, large areas of flat colour – it’s advisable to sort pieces according to how many ‘knobs’ they have. This will make it simple to fit pieces together according to their shape when there’s no picture to guide you.

On a practical note

If you’re buying jigsaw puzzles secondhand, ensure that you have all of the pieces. How? Only buy puzzles that are already assembled. This might sound like the simplest of jigsaw puzzle tips, but the disappointment of starting a puzzle to find out that you have missing pieces is worth avoiding. Instead, be prepared and enjoy the rewarding feeling of completing your perfect puzzle.