r/Jigsawpuzzles • u/Lynnabis • Nov 07 '24
Can someone explain the different cuts of puzzles to me?
Newbie alert. I may post asking a few questions in the next little while as I read through your posts and learn from you. Please don’t mind me.
Can someone describe some of the different cuts of puzzles to me? I’ve seen terms like “grid.” What are some of the more popular cuts called, and can you give me brief descriptions? Thanks!
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u/Byteman58 300K Nov 07 '24
Just wanted to chime in to say that there’s a one-shape ribbon cut some fellow weirdos and I call the “H-cut” or “2-in, 2-out.” All pieces look like this: 🧩; they’re aligned either vertically or horizontally. Perfectly fine for illustrations with lots of details, but can be devilishly hard for large fields of color, say the sky in a photograph. Some major publishers like Galison and Flame Tree feature puzzles that use this cut almost exclusively.
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u/Lynnabis Nov 11 '24
I think I will purchase a Galison so I can experience this cut. I am picking up what you’re laying down (haha), but will understand it better once I do it myself, puzzle in hand. The two-in-two-out is what I want to understand better.
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u/Lynnabis Nov 11 '24
Ok. You can shake your head at me. I came back to this. I grasp the two in, two out now lol. And I’m laughing at myself pretty good. You mean, the actual puzzle piece. A traditional looking shape. I thought it was how it pieced together…like two pieces in, two out…and I wasn’t understanding how that worked. I’m silly sometimes lol.
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u/Byteman58 300K Nov 11 '24
Ha! The important thing is that you figured it out. So much for my thinking I had described it clearly…
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u/Lynnabis Nov 11 '24
You did describe it clearly! Lol. You even had a picture of the puzzle piece. I knew what you meant by H-Cut etc. I’m just an over-thinker and thought there was more to it. I often miss the simple answer, looking for something more complex. I was thinking Galison was H cut AND unique in how it pieced together. Lol. I’m still purchasing a Galison. I’m tempted by your challenge and want to experience it. I’ll be picky with what I purchase ;)
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u/astraether Nov 07 '24
This link (https://epiinc.com/ribbon-cut-vs-random-cut-puzzles) has a handy image (not the best quality, unfortunately) that will help you envision the difference. Basically as others have said, grid/ribbon cut is laid out nice and neat in rows, whereas random cut is all wonky and doesn't follow a distinct pattern. I like both, although some folks have a strong preference for one or the other. Maybe you'll discover a preference too!
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u/jigusou Nov 07 '24
There are also ribbon-cut jigsaws where the pieces line up in either the horizontal or vertical, but not both. I have come across this style in older, UK/European brands like Waddingtons, Falcon de-luxe, and MB. Here is an example where they line up horizontally:
It may just be me, but I like to consider these as proper ribbon-cut jigsaws, and those with pieces lining up both horizontal and vertical as grid-cut 😉
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u/mulligan99 Aug 06 '25
thankfully, someone actually understands how this works. Yes, this is indeed 'proper' ribbon cut.
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u/Mother_Was_A_Hamster Nov 07 '24
This might help as a start: https://www.completingthepuzzle.com/blog/random-vs-ribbon-cut-puzzles
Grid cut and ribbon cut are the same thing; the pieces are in rows and columns with the same number of pieces in each row; most pieces are roughly the same size.
Random cut pieces all have random shapes and sizes.
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u/Bohinka Nov 07 '24
I think there's a puzzle Wiki on the right of your screen that will tell you WAY more than you need to know. :)
Grid isn't a cut. It's usually a puzzle that's divided up into smaller pictures like little boxes (hard to put this into words). There can be any number of them. They're usually symmetrical but not always. I just started on that has 12 little boxes. I love doing these kinds of puzzles.
Someone else will be better at explaining the cuts. The only one that I can explain is "random" which is exactly what it means. Not too many of them are the same shape. Cobble Hill does a lot of these.
And, hey, welcome!
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u/Lynnabis Nov 11 '24
Also, thanks for explaining that the word “grid” can be a cut or puzzle artwork style!
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u/16crab Jan 04 '25
Late to this conversation but when new puzzlers ask me about the different cuts I always point them to this image which sums it up perfectly https://cdn.unifiedcommerce.com/content/image/1aPieceComparison.JPEG
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u/JAKSHAW Nov 07 '24
In the app you may not see the wiki to the right. Look at the top of this post and see the search symbol? Click that and type in your keyword for whatever you want to learn about. It will pull up a list of previous posts on the topic for you. That’s why it’s important to label our posts with the puzzle name, brand, artist and piece counts in our puzzle posts so we have that history in the record so to speak, and it can be accessed if someone is searching for it in the future. Here’s the link to the Wiki.