Here’s How Those Hot Jigsaw Puzzles Are Made

The rush to get hold of a jigsaw puzzle — and even stockpiling by regular enthusiasts — has transformed this quiet hobby and put companies under pressure as demand surges past Christmas levels. From a report: Ravensburger, a German puzzle maker with global sales of about $600 million, has been trying to meet the sudden blizzard of orders even as social-distancing measures have limited the number of puzzles it is able to produce at its factory in the south of Germany. The company can’t easily ramp up production, because each new puzzle takes weeks to create. Each puzzle piece must be uniquely shaped, to avoid one accidentally fitting into the wrong place. That means 1,000 different shapes for a 1,000-piece puzzle, each drawn by hand by workers. Before a puzzle is cut for the first time, each piece is sketched on a sheet of paper draped over the finished image. Pieces of metal are then shaped to form an elaborate cookie cutter made just for that jigsaw puzzle; it takes about four weeks to build one. The cutter can be used only a limited number of times before its edges are dulled. It can be resharpened once and must then be discarded. At busy times of the year, the company will go through several cutters a day. But before any pieces are cut, the company chooses the right image for a puzzle.