| | |  | | Home » Small Four-color-map Wooden Jigsaw Puzzle | | | | | | WARNING:| CHOKING HAZARD -- Small parts. Not for children under 3 yrs. |
| | | Description: | | This puzzle has no picture - the pieces themselves are the puzzle. This abstract puzzle style is inspired by a design and cut-style of master-handcutter John Stokes III. Our version of Stokes' puzzle has an added twist: there are only four colors of pieces, and no two adjacent pieces are the same color (mathematically speaking, it illustrates the Four Color Map Theorem (see wikipedia for details)). The pieces were designed by Seattle artist Tara Flannery. We expect this puzzle to take 1-4 hours for the average puzzling adult. All our puzzles are made of 1/4" wood and laser-cut in Seattle, USA. Packaged in a drawstring pouch. | | | Features: | |
• 68 pieces
• laser-cut wooden jigsaw puzzle
• Made in USA
• 6" x 8"
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 6.0 inches | | Product Width:
| 8.0 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.25 inches | | Package Length:
| 5.8 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.3 inches | | Package Height:
| 4.5 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.4 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 2 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 2 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Interesting JigsawNov 28, 2011
By Brian Pletcher
Maya Gupta of Artifact Puzzles was kind enough to send me this interesting variation on the classic jigsaw puzzle to review.
Normally I'm not particularly interested in jigsaw puzzles, but Four Color Map Puzzle by Tara Flannery is very unique! Rather than assembling a picture, this puzzle illustrate's the Four Color Theorem:
The four color map theorem states that, given any separation of a plane into contiguous regions, producing a figure called a map, no more than four colors are required to color the regions of the map so that no two adjacent regions have the same color. Two regions are called adjacent only if they share a common boundary of non-zero length. (Wikipedia)
In other words, if you draw a bunch of dots, and non-overlapping lines connecting those dots, you will be able to color the various shapes such that no two adjacent shapes (sharing an edge) are the same color by using only four colors. Pretty neat, eh?
In addition to this neat mathematical reference, the cut-pattern of the puzzle is very unusual. It is inspired by the work of John Stokes III, a master jigsaw puzzle-artist. The pieces are such that you can't really even narrow down the number of possible orientations, since they are so irregular. Your standard jigsaw pieces can only go in one of four possible orientations. Furthermore, the edge is irregular as well, which further complicates things since you don't know when you're on the edge.
I had a good time solving this one, it is a good size (68 pieces) so I didn't get frustrated searching through the pieces. It was fun looking through all the unique shapes and trying to find pieces that matched up. The fact that no two pieces of the same color are adjacent ends up being quite helpful in narrowing down the possible set of pieces.
The beginning was a bit tricky as I had to go through a lot of pieces before finding one that would fit, but it gradually became easier as I got things in place. The complexity of the pieces frequently makes it difficult to visually tell if a piece will fit, so I often resorted to physically holding each piece in the spot I was trying to fill and rotating it, since I would often miss a correct fit otherwise. I think it took me a good 1-2 hours to solve, though I took a few breaks.
The end product is quite nice to look at, with the swirling shapes preventing your eye from resting anywhere. Quite a nice work of art! The colors are quite vivid as well. The puzzle itself is constructed out of laser-cut plywood, which gives it a very high-quality feel.
Overall, this was a fun puzzle that I was glad to get the chance to try. Definitely worth checking out if this type of puzzle is up your alley!
Check out more of my puzzle reviews here: [...]
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Fascinating, unique little puzzleNov 27, 2011
By Daniel T. Egnor
Like all of Artifact Puzzles' creations, the pieces are cut from wood, so they have a wonderful feel and a fine fit. They even smell like fresh cut wood! The picture side is lacquered and the colors are brilliant.
This puzzle is fascinating -- it's not a jigsaw puzzle in the conventional sense, where you assemble a picture. Instead, you're just trying to fit it together by making the edges line up and by following the rule that the same color pieces never touch (red never touches red, yellow never touches yellow, etc). The shapes of the pieces are these delightful wriggly things (you can see them in the picture). The company says they were inspired by John Stokes' puzzles; to me they're almost Escher-like.
Solving this puzzle is kind of like... a jigsaw puzzle crossed with Sudoku, all in bright colors? It's hard to describe exactly, but it's a unique experience. Not too hard, not too easy. Note that the edges aren't straight, so the usual "start with the edges and corners" technique won't help you here. But the piece shapes are so unique that you can start by identifying certain distinctive shapes and joining them together. Once you have two or three pieces joined, the color rules make it a lot easier to find pieces that match... and off you go.
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