L.A. Times Jigsaw

About L.A. Times Jigsaw

Every day the Los Angeles Times picks a photograph from its archive and turns it into a jigsaw: a five-by-six cut, thirty pieces, small enough to finish over a coffee. Recent puzzles have shown Balboa Park in San Diego, a space shuttle, and a picture from a story on climate education, so each one doubles as a glance back through the paper's photography.

The puzzle is the same for every player and a new one goes up at midnight Eastern time. You drag pieces into place on a board in the browser; a reference picture is available if you want it, and a timer runs as you play. The Amuse Labs player keeps the last several days in its picker, so a missed day is easy to make up.

It is one of the gentlest dailies on the LA Times page: no words, no numbers and no way to fail. It suits anyone who wants a few calm minutes, and pairs well with the paper's Slide, which scrambles a photo in sliding tiles instead.

How to play L.A. Times Jigsaw

1. Open Jigsaw on latimes.com/games to see the day's photo cut into 30 pieces.
2. Drag a piece onto the board; it snaps in when it is in the right place or joins a matching neighbour.
3. Look at the reference picture if you need a hint about where a piece goes.
4. Keep placing pieces until the photo is whole and the timer stops.
5. Choose an earlier date from the picker to play a recent day's jigsaw.

Tips

• Place the corners and edge pieces first to frame the picture.
• Sort the rest by colour: sky, buildings and faces usually fall into clear groups.
• Try a day without the reference image for more of a challenge.

Questions