iStockphoto / Peter Hansen / Elizaveta Mukhina
A retired man in Colorado has just completed the world’s largest puzzle. It arrived in over 5 dozen boxes and consisted of 60,000 pieces.
In total, it took him over 4 years to complete the puzzle which is a complete map of the world in all its glory, measuring 29-feet across. Merely assembling the puzzle took some incredible ingenuity because putting together at 29′ puzzle requires one to think outside of the box.
Colorado Man Completes World’s Largest Puzzle: 60,000 Pieces And 29 Feet Across
Lou Salas estimates it took him over 800 full hours working on the world’s largest puzzle before he completed it. So it was not as if he was toiling away every second of every waking day. But he still dialed in on completing the puzzle and just recently finished it.
Upon finishing the behemoth map of the globe that arrived in 60 separate boxes each containing 10,000 pieces, Lou Salas spoke with local and national news agencies about what he learned along the way, and how he was able to conquer a 60,000-piece jigsaw puzzle.
For starters, he and his friends rigged up a custom table in his garage where he could work on the 29′ puzzle. They also constructed a custom platform which hovered above the puzzle and could move laterally so he could easily work on the puzzle without disrupting the pieces already in place.
CBS Evening News got a look at the custom setup used to complete the world’s largest puzzle:
When asked how it felt to put the final piece in place after years of work reaching that point, Lou Salas said “it felt kind of sad because it’d been a part of me for a good time.” After finishing, they celebrated with a round of beers.
Upon reflection, Lou said “it takes a while but when you get to the end you reflect back and it’s behind you and it is not a long process at all.” Adding that “the whole thing is kind of a reflection of life.”
I don’t know about you but this makes me want to bust out some puzzles this weekend. I’m a huge fan of the Wentworth Wooden Puzzles that are incredibly challenging at scale. If you aren’t familiar, check ’em out.