As it happened (from my Journal archives)

November 15, 2004

5:40 pm - Finally - cutting work on the Proverbidioms puzzle has begun. I established the figural set and designed the "angular border" this morning. This afternoon I did some cutting: some long initial cuts to break down the large (~ 25.5" x 17.75") board into subsections, and I cut the border. The puzzle is the first one I'm cutting in Angular style, hopefully the initial cutting will blend in invisibly with the rest of the cutting.

November 16, 2004

5:17 pm - Pretty intense day of cutting, Proverbidioms is about 1/2 complete. My new Angular style cuts a bit faster than Swirl Curl and about the same speed as Long Round. So far cutting is going well; I seem to be cutting fairly consistently given that I cut more Angular today than in all practice sessions. I'll have a picture after the puzzle is completed. I can pick up the half that I completed without any pieces falling out, but the cut is a bit looser than Swirl Curl or Long Round. I suspect after I have sanded and cleaned the puzzle, it will be difficult to pick up intact. The Proverbidioms picture has quite a bit of surrealistically gross stuff in it. I designed one new figural for the puzzle, a knife; and included six other figurals from my library.

I expect to complete Proverbidioms tomorrow as well as some preparation work on the "Hawaii" puzzle. I might end up shipping the Hawaii puzzle first as I'd like to assemble Proverbidioms to get a feel for how difficult the Angular style is to assemble. May be harder than Swirl Curl.

November 17, 2004

7:13 pm - Long day of cutting today, Proverbidioms is finished. I think I did about 45% yesterday and 55% today. After sanding, I was able to pick up the whole puzzle with no pieces falling out except for a figural or two, so the new Angular style pieces interlock fairly well given that there is a lower average of interlocks per piece. Yesterday I mentioned that there was one new figural (Knife), actually there was a second, a Rocket Ship. I'll have a picture of the puzzle and figurals tomorrow.

I haven't decided whether or not I will be offering Angular as a formal cutting style. Perhaps feedback from "you all" will help me decide, after I post the puzzle's picture!

I prepared the boards for #567 and #571. Early tomorrow morning I'll design, print and mount the image for the "Hawaii" puzzle and I plan to cut the puzzle in the afternoon extending into early evening if need be. I'll ship this puzzle on Friday. I'll be assembling Proverbidioms soon; I'll ship it shortly after completion. For the most part I'll be taking another break this weekend. Next week will be focused on #568 (the eBay puzzle) and Sanibel. The week after that I plan to make at least the next three puzzles in the Queue.

Tomorrow I plan to put in a full day of cutting and I expect to complete the puzzle on Wednesday. After it is completed and shipped, I'll cut the "Hawaii" puzzle before taking another break.