Let’s face it: the entire country misses Betty White. The beloved actress and comedian died on New Year’s Eve just weeks before her highly anticipated 100th birthday celebration. Some are coping by watching reruns of The Mary Tyler Moore Show or the classic ’80s sitcom The Golden Girls. Me? I’ve just ordered my 1,000-piece Golden Girls Jigsaw Puzzle.
Paying tribute to famous personalities is certainly not the only reason to do jigsaw puzzles. Study after study confirms: doing jigsaw puzzles sharpens your brain, improves your memory and can help you cope with stress. Mostly, I think they’re fun. You can do them alone or make a night of it with friends and family. It’s no surprise that sales of jigsaw puzzles have soared during the pandemic. I love opening a new puzzle, running my hands through the pieces and settling in to spend some serious time with the image in front of me.
Check out these five puzzles that are perfect to tackle in 2022.
Golden Girls 1,000-Piece Puzzle. This puzzle by the Toynk company rates high on the nostalgia factor. When completed, you’ll have a colorful and stylistic design of one of TV’s favorite foursomes. Betty White and the three other actresses—Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty—may all be gone, but they do not have to be forgotten.
I’m a Puzzle Online Site. You can play thousands of puzzles—think animals, landscapes and more—for free on this site. Pick your puzzle and the level of difficulty or upload your own image and they’ll turn it into a puzzle for you lickety split. If you tire of the traditional rectangular puzzle shape, try experimenting. You can request a puzzle in a different shape. How about a heart for Valentine’s Day?
Ravensburger Krypt Gradient Puzzle. Gradient puzzles, which feature a design that doesn’t use an image but instead shows a slow color shift from one side of the board to the other, are everywhere this year. We like this 631-piece option from the German puzzle powerhouse company Ravensburger. Part of their popular ‘Krypt Gradient’ series, this one, which is recommended for ages 14 and up, will test your ability to distinguish between different hues.
2022: Year of the Tiger. This year’s Chinese lunar calendar is the Year of the Tiger, a creature known in the culture as the king of all beasts, representing confidence, strength and bravery. You’ll roar with delight when you finish this challenging puzzle by Zazzle; choose from seven different sizes—starting with 30 oversized pieces right up to 1014 pieces.
Gray Malin The Beach Double-Sided. Photographer Gray Malin is famous for his aerial shots of the world’s most exotic beaches. This 500-piece puzzle from Galison features sunbathers on one side and snorkelers exploring an ocean reef on the other.