Jigsaw Puzzle Strategy: Tips to Finish Faster

The border is the easiest part of any jigsaw. Edge pieces have a straight side, so there are fewer places each one can go, and once the frame is in, every other piece has something to fit against.

Tap Edges over your tray and your border pieces come to the front. The edges are shared out first at the deal, so everyone has some.

Corners have two straight sides and only one spot each. Put them in first, then work along from them.

A piece only locks in the right way up, and pieces start turned every which way. Turn it in your tray first, then drag it once, rather than dropping it and fixing it on the board.

Edge pieces are the easiest to turn by eye: the straight side faces out of the board. A top edge piece has its straight side up.

After the border, work in patches of one color: a sky, a red roof, a field. Tap Colors over your tray to put pieces of a similar color side by side.

Big plain areas, like a clear sky, are hardest. Leave them until last, when the pieces around them tell you where the rest go.

Look for the details that cross a piece: a line, a window, the edge between two colors. A piece showing half of something belongs next to the piece with the other half.

Tap the eye to see the whole picture. Find where your piece’s colors and details are in it, then close the eye and drop the piece there.

A quick look often beats a long search. Open it, place, close it.

Every inside edge has a tab sticking out or a hole going in, and a tab always meets a hole. When a gap on the board has a hole on its left side, the piece for it has a tab on its left.

On a busy patch, the shape is sometimes quicker to match than the colors.

On Large, 96 pieces, pinch or double-tap to zoom in on the corner you are building, so each piece is big enough to see. The corners button brings the whole table back.

On Tiny and Small the whole board fits on the screen; you rarely need to zoom.

Split the board. One of you takes the frame, another the sky, another the buildings. Say it out loud, or on a call if you are apart, so two people are not hunting for the same piece.

A piece you put down near its spot but not quite in stays loose. Anyone can pick it up and lock it in, and it counts for whoever does. If you want the credit, finish what you start.

If you are stuck with a piece, put it down roughly where you think it goes. A friend who knows that area may see where it fits.

When your tray is empty, help with the loose pieces on the table.

The finish is shared, but the final screen counts the pieces each of you locked in. A tie goes to whoever put theirs in sooner on average, so steady and early beats a rush at the end.

Your own tray is the surest source of pieces: nobody else can take a piece out of it.

Bots put their pieces in at a steady pace and now and then leave one near its spot, turned the wrong way. Pick those up, turn them, and lock them in yourself.

For a calm puzzle, add an Easy bot or two. For a fast one, Hard bots keep pace with a quick player.

What is the best way to start a jigsaw?

With the edges. Edge pieces have a straight side, so they are the easiest to place, and the finished frame gives every other piece something to fit against. In Jigsaw Puzzle, tap Edges over your tray to bring them to the front.

How do you do a jigsaw faster?

Edges first, then patches of one color, with the plain areas last. Turn each piece the right way before you drag it, and look at the picture to see where its colors are.

How do you split a jigsaw between several people?

Give each person a part of the picture: one the frame, one the sky, one the buildings. Everyone works on the same board, so tell each other who is doing what.

How do you win Jigsaw Puzzle?

Everyone finishes the picture together. The final screen counts the pieces each of you locked in, and a tie goes to whoever put theirs in sooner on average.