We thank our friends at Laurence King for allowing us to review this puzzle and then donate it to our charity friends at St Thomas Hospital in London.
So some 5 weeks ago, I received a box that contained an Alice in Wonderland Puzzle, ALICE’S WONDERLAND. The external box is wrapped with a deliciously intricate visual mesh of the world of Alice. The contents are very high quality (do we expect anything else?), a packet of puzzle pieces and a pack of pieces with a high res transfer of the puzzle on. From the Cheshire Cat, Alice, the tea party, the king and queen and much more. Titled as A Curiouser and Curiosuser jigsaw puzzle (two words I have not seen prior to this…well outside of Lewis Carroll’s world), Illustrated by Brett Ryder and containing 1000 pieces, I was excited! Luckily, I did not have to sip on a shrinking potion or disappeared down a well, in order to complete this puzzle but it was not an easy venture for a medium skilled puzzler! Instead I hammered away at the work. Many wins were befallen by some time spent diligently chipping away at the puzzle pieces. Squaring one and then another away from outside, working my way into the core and Alice on her floating dreamscape.
To be honest, the puzzle is neither harder nor more complex than others on offer from Laurence King but I and others, will often be drawn away from the diligent completion process. I found myself spending hours lapping over the intricately detailed images that both enter and extract the deliriously absurd realms of Alice and her wonderland. They have been put together with insight, imagination and a sense of wry humour. I also found myself reading over the notes. Well written and outline the biography of the author, the inspiration for his work and give credit to the artist Ryder, whose work is a source of continued delight. If you are a fan of the works of Carroll (in his Alice universe) then I believe you will be drawn in by the works brilliance. I also think you might be drawn to delay the completion like me. Reasons are many but in my case (and likely yours) you will enjoy the world constructed and the way it has been handled with respect, skill and above all, imagination.
