This Is How a Puzzle Expert Solves the Toughest Puzzles
We spoke with the founder of Jiggy Puzzles to get her puzzling secrets.
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/Scouted/Amazon/Unsplash
With everything going on, one of my favorite things to do to destress has been jigsaw puzzles. I’m not very good at them—but it’s nice to disconnect and look at something that is not a screen.
Because I was working on an extra hard puzzle (at least for me), I felt like I needed a tip. I reached out to Kaylin Marcotte, the Founder of Jiggy Puzzles for some help. If you haven’t heard of Jiggy Puzzles, they make some of the most beautiful puzzles out there. Each puzzle is designed by an emerging female artist, and every puzzle purchased directly benefits the emerging artist, as well.
So, while Kaylin first told me that she loves to listen to audiobooks and wear comfy clothes while puzzling, she got straight to the point, “As any avid puzzler will tell you, lighting is KEY.”
Aren’t my floor lamps and overhead lights good enough? I thought. Kaylin, more or less, told me no. “If I was using my floor lamps for puzzles, I’d constantly be standing up and lifting up pieces to the light to see them better.” She said it’s “important to be able to see the color differences and the shapes,” and overall “makes puzzling way easier.” So rather than relying on her typical lighting, she told me, “This is my lighting hack for puzzles.”
Gingko Octagon LED Desk Lamp
The Gingko Octagon LED Desk Lamp is a desk lamp, but Kaylin thinks it's even better for puzzles. “It’s wireless, so I can easily move it around while I puzzle,” she told me, and “not have to worry about the wire hitting any of the pieces.” From there, “the octagonal base” allows her “to tilt it in all directions,” so she can zoom in and zoom out on puzzle pieces as needed.
But best of all, “When I’m not puzzling,” she said, “it’s sleek enough to sit on my bookshelf and look like decor.”
I had the opportunity to test out the Ginkgo light and I really liked it. It sat on my puzzling table and was easy to adjust as I needed it. The extra light source enhanced the colors before me and allowed me to see pieces way better than I had before. And while I recommend it, I also came up with a new hack: my headlamp takes up no puzzling space at all, too.
Black Diamond Revolt
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