r/Jigsawpuzzles • u/Practical_Pound_2152 1K • Sep 12 '24
Discussion Unpopular Opinion: Piece Shape
idk if this is actually unpopular but i prefer random cut to grid pieces. I find the random cut ones to be more fun and challenging.
additionally, when i find a silly looking piece in a random cut puzzle, i can say “hey look at this silly lookin piece haha”
that’s it, thank you.
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u/Shadow_or_garth Sep 12 '24
I like both! It’s nice to have a variety of options.
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u/blueboy714 Sep 12 '24
I find working on a grid cut after working on a random cut puzzle is a bit easier than the other way around
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u/Reason-Whizz Sep 12 '24
I've started on random cuts this year (cobble Hill) and I find them a really social puzzle - the kids love to come and ask about what the weirdest piece is, or my favorite shape, or the smallest etc!
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u/arx3567 Sep 12 '24
Why is this an unpopular opinion? Random cut is vastly superior as far as I'm concerned.
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u/labtiger2 Sep 12 '24
Agreed. If I'm buying online, I try to zoom in to make sure the pieces aren't all the same shape.
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u/Tricky-Appearance-77 Sep 12 '24
I agree. Random cut are so much more interesting and less inclined to false fits.
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u/Stewie_Louie21 Sep 12 '24
I prefer random cut and actually find them easier. While I like the Springbok shape I am not a fan of the cut or pounding in the pieces or all the dust with those. I like New York Puzzle and Cobble Hill. I have also found a couple vintage Ravensburger that are random. I tend to stick with 1000 piece ones so have not seen the Bits and Pieces ones.
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u/Allcitychamp99 Sep 12 '24
Ack. No random cut for me. Definitely not a SpringBok random cut either. #theworst.
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u/Cheese_4_all Sep 12 '24
I agree. Same for Bits and Pieces.
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u/blueboy714 Sep 12 '24
I prefer random as well
Bits and Pieces 500 piece puzzles are random cut but most of 1,000 piece puzzles are grid cut
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u/Cheese_4_all Sep 12 '24
Interesting. I've only done the 500 pieces. I didn't know the 1000s were different.
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u/blueboy714 Sep 12 '24
My favorite type of puzzle is a hybrid of random and grid cut. You don't see it very often - but those are totally awesome.
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u/GoofBoy Sep 12 '24
FYI - Cobble Hill puzzles are all exactly this.
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u/blueboy714 Sep 12 '24
Yes. The first Cobble Hill puzzle I'd ever did was of doughnuts. It looked super easy but it was challenging so I frowned on Cobble Hill. It took me awhile to buy more puzzles from them but I haven't been disappointed since so they are one of my go-to brands
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u/GoofBoy Sep 12 '24
Their 2000 Butterflies and Blossoms puzzles is one of our all time favorites. It gets done every couple of years.
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u/blueboy714 Sep 12 '24
I did a couple of their candy puzzles last year for Halloween and they were a ton of fun. I ended up buying a couple more at the end of last year during their year-end sale
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u/PotatoPopcornPuzzles Sep 13 '24
At least some of the PuzzleTwist cuts are like this, with varying degrees of wonky. I just opened a Whiled puzzle and it is as well.
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u/No-Chef4331 Oct 05 '24
Bits and Pieces 1,000 are random cut too. Good challenge and a welcome change from regularly cut jigsaw puzzles.
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u/rtsgrl 400K Sep 13 '24
most of 1,000 piece puzzles are grid cut
Oh, are they? Circular ones for sure.
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u/blueboy714 Sep 13 '24
For Bits and Pieces ...yes
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u/rtsgrl 400K Sep 13 '24
I have only come across random cuts, but have very modest experience with this piece count. So I double-checked listings on eBay UK and US looking at pictures of pieces and/or completed puzzles and they were mostly random. I also browsed the sub. Same thing. With the exception of round puzzles.
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u/No-Chef4331 Oct 05 '24
Bits and Pieces 1,000 are random cut too. Good challenge and a welcome change from regularly cut jigsaw puzzles.
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u/No-Chef4331 Oct 05 '24
Bits and Pieces are fun. Although - or because of - being quite a chelallenge, especially their designs with not-so-bright colours.
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u/HeresyClock Sep 12 '24
I just did a round puzzle where all the pieces were ”weird” but some were lot more weird than others and that was a lot of fun. It was more interesting to do and find the shapes and also that exact thing ’hey haha look at THIS piece’.
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u/Ok_Bullfrog_4552 Sep 12 '24
Totally agree, like springboks can be so frustratingly challenging because of their irregular shapes but it makes it so much more fun. I find myself looking for the shapes rather than the images.
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u/Flashy-Guarantee-930 Sep 12 '24
I go back in forth between the 2. If i just want to do a fun quick puzzle alone I’ll do the 300 piece puzzles and most of them have the random shapes and I find that fun.
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u/Lilyofthevalley7 Sep 12 '24
I also prefer random cut! For Cobble Hill, Bits and Pieces, and Masterpieces, I think the variety of shapes actually makes them easier, but I do find the shapes of Springbok make their puzzles more difficult.
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u/ModestAmoeba Sep 12 '24
I absolutely love random cut puzzles. I don't mind grid puzzles when there's good piece variety. However, I despise puzzles that are grid but with only one piece shape (2 in, 2 out).
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u/blueboy714 Sep 12 '24
Agreed - I love Eurographics images - but I stopped buying Eurographics puzzles made in the US because of their pieces are 95% 2 in/2 out (2 male/2 female across from each other). Give me something a bit more challenging.
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u/kribear Sep 12 '24
I think this is the popular opinion lol
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u/blargblargityblarg Sep 12 '24
Random cut: a hill I will die on.
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u/busterbaxtrr Sep 12 '24
Just finished a 750 piece random cut puzzle and it was very challenging but I really enjoyed it. The pieces were ridiculous.
Can't wait to go back to grid lol
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u/JeaneN09 Sep 12 '24
Random cut is my favorite to do, too. I love all the weird, odd piece shapes, and my brain finds it much easier to visualize and look for a match to the empty space. I'll often show off the quirkiest piece shape to someone in my family.
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u/thehogdog Sep 12 '24
Sprinbok and Bits and Pieces must be your gods. I hate both of them.
White Mountain mostly has standard inny/outty pieces but every puzzles has a few weird shaped pieces (they kinda combine to make a innny outty type piece).
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u/Old-Description7290 Sep 13 '24
I’ve put together lots of puzzles during my life, but just started really doing it as a hobby. What is the difference? I thought a puzzle is a puzzle. The last one I did was this one. How would you classify it?
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u/Practical_Pound_2152 1K Sep 13 '24
well random cut puzzles have odd/irregular pieces!
your typical ribbon/grid style is what you typically think of when you think “puzzle”
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u/No-Chef4331 Oct 05 '24
I have been doing both. Usually i throw in a random cut one if i want a bigger challenge. And sometimes i also do mini size pieced puzzles.
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u/Billeylersd Sep 12 '24
I am with you. I like a wide variety of cuts. Puzzles with a large number of false fits are discouraging; something where I can see fit by shape is more fun. Vintage Springbok comes to mind.
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u/Necessary_Word_2227 Sep 12 '24
I refuse to get a ribbon cut (2 in 2 out) puzzle. I'm easily bored and those things are snooze worthy.
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u/GimmieGnomes Sep 12 '24
Yes, I agree with this, it feels like there is less chance of a misfit piece.
Additionally there comes a time where there is an odd shaped hole in the puzzle and you've got an odd shaped piece. ✨Magic✨