You may know that we have a fondness for lighthouses. Being from the Canadian prairies, I didn’t have many opportunities to see them in my younger years. My children have grown up near a lighthouse, and they also love them. So we were really looking forward to putting together this 995 -piece, uniquely shaped Ludicrous Lighthouse puzzle by Colin Thompson.
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Ravensburger kindly sent us this 995 piece puzzle to keep us me busy. This puzzle was a little different because the family was all keen to do it…until it arrived, and then I was on my own. I think they were intimidated by its uniqueness; but I didn’t mind too much; and I didn’t let them in to the final half hour when they like to sit down and take the glory of fitting in the last few pieces!
This puzzle is uniquely shaped…like a lighthouse…instead of the typical rectangular pattern. I figured it might not entirely fit on my puzzle handy, but I thought it was a good place to start and keep things contained.
In opposition to the predictable way I put puzzles together by starting with the edge pieces, due to the uniqueness of this puzzle, I didn’t start with the edges. I began by sorting out some of the most colourful pieces which happened to be the top of the lighthouse, and the light itself.
From there I pulled out some of the other pieces by colour…blues, greens, reds, yellows, bricks, etc. In this way some different areas of the puzzle were completed here and there by what my eye picked out went together. It started with lots of piles of 2-4 pieces attached together.
Then slowly those areas grew. The big books, the bathtub, the pencil, the red wall dividers, the staircases. They started to take shape.
Eventually I was able to roughly see the main structure of the building and its various rooms and contents find their way into some sort of order.
Did I mention that the puzzle pieces themselves also have some unique shapes? And many are cut just so that you think you’re looking for one colour to fit in, when really the colour changes for the next piece? This adds an extra trickiness to it!
The edge pieces were just about the last part of the puzzle I completed. Those brick edges and the bottom of the lighthouse. Those were the trickiest bits….and also, there’s always that one piece of puzzle that goes awol along the way…we found it under the sofa..phew!
Then I had this Ludicrous Lighthouse puzzle completed…but not put together as it didn’t quite fit on the puzzle handy as expected. Once I had the light finished I had slid it off onto a hard-covered book to keep it safe. And there were about a dozen pieces on the bottom corners that hung over the edge, but overall, not a bad fit.
To see my Lighthouse puzzle completed, I moved the puzzle handy to the floor, then gently slid the light and base edges off my book to see it all in one piece at last!
Yeah, it’s all done and fully together!
We can fully see all of the little details found in this puzzle; hidden characters, signs, and such.
Now…it’s time to take it apart again. Did you happen to catch a lighthouse visit during the European Heritage Open Days last week? We did visit one last year in Co. Donegal and it was very interesting.
My children really enjoy lighthouses and if yours do, too, then checkout our lighthouse craft for kids that really lights up, as well as Tristan’s picture of a lighthouse that he sold.
If you enjoy a good puzzle, check out these other Ravensburger puzzles we’ve reviewed:
- Happy Days at Work – The Teacher 500pc
- School Sports Day
- A Day at The Beach
- Best of British No.15 – The Supermarket
- Flying Home
- What If? Christmas Day
Ludicrous Lighthouse – Colin Thompson Shaped 995 piece Puzzle is available through fine retail stores and Amazon.co.uk.
The Ravensburger Puzzle Handy is also available from Amazon.co.uk and retail outlets.
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Carolyn Wilhelm says
Wow, that is one huge puzzle! We lived near a lighthouse for many years and this would be nice for such locations. Or not, maybe for the landlocked! Thanks!
Crystal McClean says
It’s good for everyone! This is one of those puzzles I’m tempted to glue together and use as a decoration on the wall!