For me puzzles have long been a path to serenity. When my brain is working overtime on a niggling problem I find a good jigsaw puzzle serves as a welcome distraction: my favorite jigsaw puzzles are not easy, but they do demand a different type of meditative attention than the issues that more often require (or wiggle their way into) my focus.
But I’ve learned that not just any puzzle will do! If I’m to focus on a puzzle, I want beautiful colors, an interesting design, and the pieces to fit together just right. Thankfully, there are countless good ones to choose from—and finding those puzzles is a big part of this puzzle fan’s enjoyment of the process.
I always look forward to replenishing my puzzle hoard as the weather cools down. We like to keep a wide variety to choose from during the winter months, which is prime puzzling season around here. Because puzzles make great gifts, we also keep some unopened ones on hand should an unexpected gifting need arise.
A puzzle mat makes a nice add-on for a puzzle present. Another option: A friend gifted us this awesome puzzle board during a hard season when I was doing a huge amount of puzzling and it’s been the best (and most therapeutic) gift. A mat or board makes it easy to move puzzles-in-progress from a prominent surface like a coffee table to somewhere out of the way. It also helps prevent curious pets from stealing or chewing on pieces, not that Daisy would ever dream of doing such a thing (ahem).
This roundup of puzzles is a great way to treat yourself or someone you love. I hope you enjoy perusing them as much as I did!
All puzzles featured here were chosen because we love them. If you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission. More info here.
Holiday puzzles
White Mountain Rockefeller New York Christmas, 1000 Piece. A quintessential holiday scene.
Galison Season’s Reading, 500 Piece. I can’t wait to read next to our Christmas tree. Twinkle lights make everything better.
True South Holidays Across the USA, 500 Piece. True South makes some of the best US map puzzles.
Puzzles of Color Twas The Night Before Christmas, 750 Piece. The wonder of seeing Santa!
Cobble Hill Holiday Baking, 1000 Piece. I’ve never seen a design quite like this and I love it—so much nostalgia. (Now I’m hungry!)
Gray Malin The Winter Holiday, 500 Piece Double Sided. Double-sided puzzles mean double the fun.
Bookish puzzles
Cobble Hill The Purrfect Bookshelf, 1000 Piece. Cat and bookshelves go together. (I know this even though I’m allergic, and appreciate that with a good puzzle I can enjoy the pairing without sneezing my head off!)
White Mountain Puzzles Bookmarks 2, 1000 Piece. A fun variety of bookmarks—though it’s too bad you can’t reach into the puzzle and grab one to use for your book afterward.
Big Potato Mayhem in The Library, 1000 Piece. This is one chaotic library! There are 101 books hidden in the scene in the form of riddles, I love it.
Laurence King The World of The Brontës, 1000 Piece. Go on a tour of the Brontës sisters’s world and characters with this unique puzzle.
Plants, flowers, and animals
Elena Essex Tropical Bliss, 1000 Piece. I love the brightvibrant colors!
Pomegranate Hiroo Isono’s Utopia Falls, 1000 Piece. Hiroo Isono’s striking painting features a waterfall but don’t miss how many birds, animals, and insects are tucked into the scene.
Cobble Hill Beaucoup Bouquet, 1000 Piece. So many beautiful bouquets!
EuroGraphics Feline Felon 500 Piece Puzzle. This made me laugh out loud…and think of Daisy.
Cavallini Citrus, 1000 Piece. A vintage botanical poster of various kinds of citrus. Plus, Cavallini puzzles come with a muslin bag, making it easy to store the puzzle afterward.
Galison Intergalactic Flora, 1000 Piece. The starry sky in the background makes the colors of the flowers really pop.
Destinations puzzles
White Mountain Puzzles Niagara Falls, 500 Piece. You can practically feel the mist from the falls.
EuroGraphics Portofino Italy, 1000 Piece. How do I magically transport myself there?
Ravensburger Eibsee Lake, Zugspitze, Germany, 1000 Piece. This looks like a good challenge.
Cavallini & Co. National Parks Map, 1,000 Piece. A vintage map of the US featuring National Parks.
Martin Schwartz Copenhagen, 1000 Piece. We saw this brand all over Europe; I wish I’d been able to pack the whole line in my suitcase. I was thrilled I could track down this rainbow-hued Copenhagen puzzle that ships to the U.S.
Galison Liberty London Tudor Building, 750 Piece Double-Sided. This is so cool in person and double-sided to boot.
Miscellaneous puzzles
True South Dolly!, 500 Piece. So happy!
Cobble Hill Hot Air Balloons, 1000 Piece. Anyone else mesmerized by hot air balloons?
Liberty Puzzles Kite-Eating Tree, 419 Piece. LOVE this Liberty x Peanuts collab.
Do you have any recent puzzles you recommend? I’d love to hear about your favorite puzzles in the comments.
P.S. 25 jigsaw puzzles to treat yourself or someone you love, 25 jigsaw puzzles so enticing you might not mind winter weather, plus 20 favorite board games to beat the rainy day (or chilly day) blues.
13 comments
I have SO many puzzles, but I keep coming back to White Mountain because of their variety and quality. Anything by Steve Crisp is great–wonderful nostalgia scenes that are challenging but always fun and rewarding. Also like Fred Swann’s seasonal landscapes. I’ve been considering that Rockefeller Center Christmas puzzle on your list, although it looks quite hard!
I just cracked up looking at the pic of the feline felon😂
I recently discovered eeBooo puzzles. Two I’ve particularly enjoyed:
Jane Austen’s Book Club, and Vintage Library.
https://eeboo.com/collections/1000-piece-puzzles?srsltid=AfmBOoo7ZkRPYcLhM_M0fyXcYizc2dixhaWjaW-lMwHeAHKva6tGT-fn
Also available on Amazon. I too find relaxation and a meditative break Tha in puzzling! Thank you for your suggestions.
I just did an eeboo mushroom puzzle that was so fun! I love that brand too!
I used to be a costume director for children’s theater and found many, many items in thrift stores that I could repurpose for the kids costumes. I also discovered that jigsaw puzzles are often donated unopened and priced crazy cheap. All of my puzzle finds were priced under $5 and the search is so much fun.
We had lots of fun doing Spooky Town 500 piece puzzle by Mudpuppy. You might want to keep it in mind for next Halloween.
I’m a HUGE fan of the Laurence King puzzles – Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes, King Arthur, Frankenstein, Great Gatsby (my fave) and so many more. Pomegranate has beautiful artist puzzles like Edward Gorey, Seurat (really hard) & Chagall. Kansas City Puzzle Company has city themed puzzles which are really fun – I’ve done Milwaukee & Chicago so far.
Last year I gifted myself the Galison Andy Warhol Christmas Countdown – 12 Days of Puzzles. I did one little puzzle every morning with my tea for the 12 days of Christmas. Each little puzzle was beautiful—not too easy, not too hard, just right! I bought them for stocking stuffers this year.
So many wonderful recommendations! The feline felon made me snort-laugh… I have three cats and whenever I lose a puzzle piece, I just say that is due to the “cat tax”. I recently finished this 2000 library puzzle. It took some time but was so much fun. I think there is a 1000 piece version of the same puzzle also available. Happy puzzling!
https://www.amazon.com/Buffalo-Games-Stewart-Challenging-Finished/dp/B0D3FKGJTV/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2P6AZ6B6UTZQR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.QX3UBowpUmbNW71Okk9lw_bSptkUnnSW9WbtQKMz4oNlR9hlV8Q8u0iT8P8rj8DqPBlCXw643-RNPV0nNqZWgJQTM4DDOBQgI3MGiNQn-PDmV4ZDBbPWJRphftwpkeFxBcsGom30mqPY7vMmeeCLoYgYhzhKbcqFsBxStQaDD4eem5-kCkYxRV0EyGZC0us6.XyS6qIMmDn_ssK_MjVVwoRrJ4UvqAfcMfcA7QZGRe0I&dib_tag=se&keywords=buffalo+games+fiction+library+2000&qid=1731077683&sprefix=buffalo+games+fiction+library+2000%2Caps%2C168&sr=8-1
Love so many of these puzzle suggestions. I’ve decided to stop doing business with Amazon for political reasons, would love to see more links in the future to other retailers! Thanks for your amazing recommendations!
My son gifted me a Charles Wysocki Wooden puzzle of a cat curled around books on a bookshelf. I was so surprised and intrigued as I was sorting out the pieces to see many animal shapes (more obvious on the back side). It has been a real challenge to piece together but I’m enjoying it. Thankfully it’s not huge – 15 X 11.
If you are from Minnesota or even the Midwest, you’ll love these 3 Minnesota puzzles.
Minnesota Trivia and Puzzle in one
Minnesota Hot Dish Puzzle
Minnesota (not always so) Nice Puzzle
Created and designed by my cousin, a Minnesotan and avid puzzler. These are so fun!
Only available online at https://www.walkergeneralstore.com/
I just visited Fair Trade Books in Red Wing Minnesota. They sell used puzzles. But, all used puzzles have to be “certified”. So anytime a used puzzle comes in it goes on the “to be certified” table. Then a puzzle certifier comes in and takes it home, completes it, and marks it certified, meaning all the pieces are there. How cool is that? I want to be a puzzle certifier!
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