A calm method for jigsaw puzzles

A jigsaw goes fastest when you stop searching the whole table for every piece. The method below cuts the table into small, manageable searches. It works for a 24-piece break and for a 198-piece evening alike.

1. Frame

Switch on Edges so only border pieces remain. Find the four corners first — two straight sides each — then build each side. On a screen, drag pieces roughly toward where their side of the frame will be before joining them; it keeps the table tidy. When the frame is done, switch Edges off again.

2. Anchors

Every picture has a few parts that are impossible to confuse: a lit window, a red wall, a jetty, a reindeer, a mushroom cap. Build those next, even if they float unattached in the middle of the board for a while. Drop each finished anchor near its spot and it locks onto the board.

3. Colour piles

Press Sort to lay the loose pieces out, then drag them into piles at the edges of the table: sky, forest, snow, water, and one pile for anything unclear. Now each search covers ten pieces instead of a hundred. Zoom in on one pile at a time on a phone.

4. Plain areas by shape

Night sky, snow, fog and still water hold almost no colour information. Here the shape of the piece decides: count the tabs and blanks and note which sides they are on. Work along one row of the empty area, trying only pieces with the right outline. The ghost image helps you see where light and shade change slightly.

5. Use the tools without guilt

Hint flashes a piece and the neighbour it fits — useful when you are stuck, and it still leaves the actual join to you. Undo reverses joins you regret. Show picture opens a small preview you can keep open while you work on a tricky area.