Top 5 Hardest Puzzles in Dean College

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The Dean College Library offers a plethora of puzzles for students to pass the time. As an avid puzzle fan, here is what I think are the top five hardest puzzles in Dean College that you should try at least once. 

Number Five: Maine Lighthouse

The hardest part about this set is the sky, given there are only two flat colors that are split from each other. Nothing in puzzles is more annoying than connecting a large array of pieces that are the same color. Aside from that, the rest of the puzzle is manageable, as it has six distinctive areas, including the wheat field, the lighthouse, the rocky ridge, and the ocean. If you have a basic understanding of creating piles of different colored pieces, you will be fine. 

Number Four: One Hundred Elephants and a Mouse

This set takes the hardest challenge from number five and kicks it up a notch. The part that tricks me is figuring out which elephant goes where, as most of them all have the same gray skin tone. Thankfully, the set gives you a break by only being 750 pieces, but categorizing piles by color is a little trickier. 

Number Three: Thomas Kinkade

This set is an advanced version of number five that has more pieces to deal with than number four. When I built this set, the most tedious part was making different piles of each color, as there were several different colors that are squeezed together. This can especially be said about the house, as the dark blue shingles, yellow walls, and orange windows are stuffed into roughly 200-250 pieces. However, if you have an advanced understanding of creating piles of different colored pieces, you can probably pull this off.

Number Two: Wheels

The fact that it’s only 750 pieces does not give this set justice to how difficult it truly is. While people may argue the same logic with number four, the elephant puzzle had a white background to give you a break from the actual elephants. However, the Wheels set does not have that luxury – the wickedly detailed garages make color differentiation nearly impossible, and the patterns on the ceiling and sidewall are tough to follow. The only part that is slightly easy to manage is the different colored cars, but its old-fashioned detail gives this area a slight difficulty boost. With so many contrasting colors and patterns to account for, this set is higher on the list, but the top choice blows this puzzle out of the water.

Number One: Tapestry Cat

Tapestry Cat solidified my stance that I am a dog person. This 1000-piece puzzle gave me a headache, as it gives you no time for a break. Its funky patterns with inconsistent colors are splotched across the entire set, making piece categorization a NIGHTMARE. Scratch that, you cannot even make separate piles for certain pieces, as there are different shapes for every section of the cat’s body and the wheat field behind it. Even the picture frame on the sides of the puzzle has its own funky patterns, especially the corners. The only part you can argue is “easy” are the blue diamonds on the side with the saint logo, but even that can be tricky with how many there are. This is the only puzzle I haven’t completed, easily making this the hardest puzzle that Dean College has to offer. 

Have an opposing viewpoint to this opinion? Let us know. All views are welcome. Send your thoughts to our Editorial Staff – Editor Thomas Szot tszot@student.dean.edu or Dean Daily Faculty Advisor, Professor John Rooke jrooke@dean.edu