Buzzworthy Puzzles

When I told people that my next blog would feature bug-themed puzzles, most’s initial reaction was, “Gross! Why?” Is it any wonder with initial reactions like this that there was a reason to declare July 14^th National Be Nice To Bugs Day? As a girl who captures and releases spiders when they’re in the house, I thought I’d get on board with the spirit of the day, which encourages people to stop the unnecessary killing of insects, by sharing insect-themed bugs ON my puzzle board this month! 

There are 200 million insects for every human on the planet and it certainly felt like there were about that many pictured on my first puzzle, a 500-piece by Pomegranate, Macrocosm. 

Macrocosm by Pomegranate

This was a bit intimidating at first and I thought I may go bug-eyed as the poster that comes with the puzzle is small. But the fantastically bright colors and the interestingly shaped pieces, which I’ve never encountered before, made for a unique build.  

If you want a bug puzzle that is equally as vibrant, but a little less infested than this one, the 500-piece Kaleido Beetles by Mudpuppy is the way to go. The kaleidoscope of colors is stunning and the poster was helpful in identifying where to place pieces.  

Kaleido Beetles by Mudpuppy

Fun fact – not only do I love these beetles, but I’m also a huge Beatles fan. Ironically, a tree planted in LA’s Griffith Park to honor Beatle George Harrison was actually destroyed by bark beetles. I guess they never heard George’s song Don’t Bother Me but I don’t blame them as it is Something to note that beetles are essential in the long-term health of the ecosystem, as they weed out sick and stressed trees.   

Another Beatle, Ringo Starr, sung Honey Don’t, but my next puzzle, a 500-piece Busy as a Bee by Cobble Hill was a honey do as far as I was concerned!  

Busy as a Bee by Cobble Hill

At first all the white space and flowers made me antsy – would this be too hard to do? The answer is no – this puzzle was the bees knees! All the flowers have a slightly different tint, the poster made it easy to see what crawled behind the logo on the front of the box (a pesty thing I wash Cobble Hill would stop doing), and the little sayings about bees were as sweet as the approximately 220 pounds of honey a single colony of bees can produce in a year.

I suspect if asked, most people would say that butterflies are their favorite insect and I would have to agree, which is why I completed two butterfly puzzles for this blog. The first one, a quick and easy build, was this 500-piece Butterflies of North America by Mudpuppy. I usually start with words on puzzles, but the colors of the butterflies’ wings were so bright, that they took flight first. Saying that, a surprising fact about butterflies is that their wings are actually translucent - the colors we see are reflections off the tiny scales covering them.

Butterflies of North America by Mudpuppy

My second butterfly puzzle, Butterfly Botanica with Shaped Pieces, a 500-piece from Galison was gorgeous. I tried to do the edges first, but all were solid green, so I hatched a plan to leave those for last.  

Butterfly Botanica by Galison

I did, however, adore how the puzzle went through a metamorphosis, forming just so around the 15 big, shaped pieces.

Lastly, my antennae went up when I started sorting the 1000 pieces for this Blue Lady by JaCaRou Puzzles, as there are a lot of solid colored pieces and not much pattern. Could I do it? I was also concerned the puzzle wouldn’t fit on my board, but luckily it lined up right to the edge. This one challenged all my puzzling abilities, but the stunning colors captivated me and I muscled through. Speaking of which, ever wonder why dragonflies fly faster than other insects, enabling them to eat up to 100 mosquitos a day (making them my second favorite insect)? It’s because their muscles are attached directly to their wings!

Blue Lady by JaCaRou Puzzles

In closing, let me put a flea in your ear about some additional insect-themed puzzles I’d love to do!  There are several 500-piece puzzles, including Circle of Colors-Insects by Ravensburger; Photo Ark Insects and Lightbugs (did you know lightening bugs are a type of beetle?) both by New York Puzzle Company; Moths by eeBoo and; Butterflies Vintage Stamps by Eurographics.   This 1000-piece Dragonfly, Paper Mosaic by Lantern Press also makes my heart flutter, which by the way is what a group of butterflies is called.

Hopefully this blog squashed the negative way some of you view insects and didn’t meet with crickets on your end!  

– Lisa @lisalovespuzzles