L.A. Times Jigsaw

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Piece together a photo from the LA Times archive, new every day.

on latimes.com

The L.A. Times Jigsaw is a short daily jigsaw puzzle on the paper's free games page. Each day a photograph from the Times' own archive, from Southern California landmarks to news pictures, is cut into 30 pieces for you to put back together.

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

Open Jigsaw on latimes.com/games to see the day's photo cut into 30 pieces.
Drag a piece onto the board; it snaps in when it is in the right place or joins a matching neighbour.
Look at the reference picture if you need a hint about where a piece goes.
Keep placing pieces until the photo is whole and the timer stops.
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.