The City Hall Talking Jigsaw Puzzle Solution

I finally found the last of the Talking Jigsaw Puzzle series at a reasonable price, and I’ve completed the collection with The City Hall “Talking Puzzle” by Buffalo Games.

The premise for this one is the same as past puzzles: you must first complete each of the 4×4 piece rooms, and then you use the “conversations” between the rooms as clues to the ordering of the rooms. This particular puzzle had a minor twist in that it had an east and west side to it, and brick between rooms.

The only real complaint I have is like with all of these puzzles — the edges don’t distinguish themselves well enough, and you’ll end up having to resort to using the pattern on the back to put some in their proper place. Still, it was as fun to put together as all the others in the set.

solution — click to embiggen

Advertisement

The Hospital Talking Jigsaw Puzzle Solution

Slowly the last of the Talking Jigsaw Puzzle series are coming home to roost, this one being The Hospital “Talking Puzzle” by Buffalo Games. These puzzles require you to not only assemble each of the 4×4 piece hospital rooms correctly, but then you have to position each of the windows in a way that the conversation clues make sense. They’re fun to work on.

The timing on this one was meaningful in that I’ll be having hip surgery once more very soon. Again I made it easy for myself by putting the puzzle together on a glass table top so that I could more easily check the underside of the puzzle to see that the pattern was correct. I found that there were 2-3 room pairs that didn’t seem to readily make their respective positions apparent, but overall The Hospital was as much a treat as the others have been:

solution — click to embiggen

Only The City Hall remains…

The High School Talking Jigsaw Puzzle Solution

Added a fourth Buffalo Games “talking jigsaw puzzle” lately (previous: The Office Building, The Fitness Center, The Beach). In summary, these puzzles require you to complete each of the 4×4 squares before you can then find their correct location based on the clues given in the various conversations and scenes on each one.

This new puzzle was The High School, which I smartly assembled on top of a glass table top allowing me to verify the results using the “congratulations” pattern on the back. The left side pieces were frustrating in that there were some which were virtually interchangeable (but not), but I enjoyed the challenge of the clever interior classroom pieces. Here is the final result, for posterity:

solution — click to embiggen

At this point, I believe that the only two other Talking Jigsaw Puzzles are The Hospital and The City Hall.

The Beach Talking Jigsaw Puzzle Solution

Snagged a third Buffalo Games “talking jigsaw puzzle” the other day, to go with The Office Building and The Fitness Center puzzles that I already had. To recap, with these puzzles you need to complete each of the 4×4 squares before you can find their correct location based on the clues given by the various conversations and scenes on each one.

The newly acquired puzzle was The Beach, and again I assembled it on top of a glass table top so that I could verify the results using the “congratulations” pattern on the back. This and The Fitness Center are the only puzzles in the set not to be a view of the side of a building. Along with the hot tub from The Fitness Center puzzle, there were a couple more sections here (volleyball net, lifeguard stand) which were larger than the standard 4×4 grouping. I found two or three areas to be a bit misleading and a bit less than obvious, but otherwise this was as entertaining as the previous puzzles were to put together. Here is the final result, for posterity:

solution — click to embiggen

The Fitness Center Talking Jigsaw Puzzle Solution

After the entertainment we got from putting together The Office Building by Buffalo Games, I decided to see if I could pick up one of the other “talking jigsaw puzzles”, and managed to find a reasonably priced Fitness Center (paired with another of The Office Building, which I gifted to my AZ nieces and nephew). Again, not only do you need to assemble each of the 4×4 fitness center workout spaces correctly, but you then must place each one in the correct spot based on clues given by the conversations on the puzzle.

This time around, I did assemble it on a glass table to easily determine if I had the correct results — I found this puzzle was a little ambiguous in a couple locations, unlike the last one. This puzzle differed from most of the other ones in that it was not a view of the side of a building. I didn’t check if the answer was posted anywhere on the web — here it is anyway:

solution — click to embiggen

I was surprised that these are such collectors items. They came out in the early ’90s, from the looks of it. I’ll keep monitoring for any of the others to be offered at anything resembling affordable. Stay tuned!

The Office Building Talking Jigsaw Puzzle Solution

One of the items I laid out for the Snow Day Party we hosted was a fun puzzle that we’d enjoyed working on one time in the past, The Office Building “Talking Puzzle” by Buffalo Games. Not only do you need to assemble each of the office rooms/windows correctly, but you then must place each window in the correct spot based on clues given by the conversations on the puzzle. It’s a fun challenge.

Unfortunately, unless assembled on a glass table or checked frequently on the underside pattern on the pieces, it is difficult to determine if the correct results were obtained. I was surprised that no solution could be found on the web, so I’m resolving that shortcoming here:

solution — click to embiggen

An Instrumental Friday Random 10

It’s been a while!

1. “World of the Heart – Main Title” – Randy Edelman, Dragonheart soundtrack
2. “Four Horsemen” – Junichi Nakatsuru, Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War
3. “The Temple of Artemis” – Rick Wakeman, The Seven Wonders of the World
4. “Chase the Clouds Away” – Chuck Mangione, Chase the Clouds Away
5. “Thunder in Paradise” – Pablo Cruise, Thunder in Paradise soundtrack*
6. “The Packing Horse” – Djam Karet, Recollection Harvest
7. “Homecoming” – Yellowjackets, Samurai Samba
8. “Unfamiliar Wind” – Brian Eno, Ambient 4 – On Land
9. “Mariachi Funeral” – Roger Eno, Lost in Translation
10. “Singularity” – Gordian Knot, Gordian Knot

*How’d that get in there??

Enjoy your weekend!

Play With The Prose II — Challenge #15 (And Last!): Christmas Ghosts

Round fifteen, the last of the Fiction 59 (59-word stories) head-to-head challenges required writing about Christmas Ghosts…past, present, or whatever:

Santa entered the large chamber to begin his yearly review of the prospective Ghosts of Christmas Past/Present/Future. “Lots of chains, good, good …. and hey, I like the red eyes – nice touch. You – add another couple layers of gauzy cloth. Impressive garland crown!” “Wait a minute … Daneeka’s Ghost?!” The gaunt, ethereal cheetah slunk out of the exit.

• Santa’s in charge of the Christmas ghosts? Why not?
• Daneeka’s Ghost? Who? Only WGOM Citizen and multi-Spookymilk Survivor winner, that’s who.

Once more into the breach — RESULTS

Mine was submission #1 this time — the judges’ comments:
MATTHEW: If any of you guys can be described as a gaunt, ethereal cheetah, I’m never attending a meet-up. Story 2 was cute, and I like the idea of Santa being involved in the selection of the various Xmas ghosts. But it was in service of a hook that didn’t work on me, since I don’t know who the hell anyone is around here still. Story 1 was meatier, and I’m glad I figured out who it was referencing. It’d be interesting to see the author lay out just what the consequences would be of an ancient British spirit pimping for the US military. WINNER: #1

Novak – #1 makes me go “huh.” Huh. Where did this idea come from. The transformation from Christmas yet to come to Uncle Sam is so out of left field that I can’t help but be impressed at the concept. #2, on the other hand, has such a strong inside joke reference – but not too inside, as we should all get it – that I’m a huge fan. It’s very good showing vs. telling too, so I’m happy to give #2 the win.

ANDY: Hmm… not sure what to make of these two. I’m in a bit of a stupor, so forgive me, #1, but I’m not grasping what his right arm will advertise. Otherwise, I like the concept and it’s written well, with the right tone. #2, you came close with the Santa character, but for some reason I’m not feeling the meta in this entry. Sorry. Winner: #1.

WINNER: Will Young

*sigh* 5/10 record — disappointing? Well, didn’t make the playoffs, yeah, but I had fun, didn’t I? Darn straight! Thanks again, Spooks, judges, and everyone that participated.