Puzzles
1000 pieces. 999 included.
The 999-Piece Jigsaw
A thousand-piece sunset. We kept one piece. It's gorgeous. It will never be finished.
Ships anywhere in India
What is inside
A 1000-piece jigsaw in its original box, sealed. One edge piece, removed by us, kept back.
A thousand pieces of a perfectly good sunset. Nine hundred and ninety-nine of them are in the box.
It is a real jigsaw, sealed in a real box, from a real print run. The image is good. The cut is good. The cardboard has that satisfying give. Somebody will spend a long weekend on it, and they will enjoy almost all of that weekend.
The last hour
The gap is on an edge, about a third of the way along. Edges get done first, which means the hole is there from the start and reads as nothing at all — a piece not yet found. It stays that way for hours. It is only at the very end, when the last handful of pieces have obvious homes and one hole does not, that the arithmetic happens.
People check the box. Then under the table. Then the box again.
Who this is for
Someone patient. Someone who finishes things. The joke does not work on a person who was going to abandon it at four hundred pieces anyway — it works on the one who was going to photograph it.
It is a long game. Budget a fortnight between the box arriving and the message you are going to receive.
The particulars
- Pieces in the puzzle
- 1000
- Pieces in the box
- 999
- Piece removed
- One edge piece, long side
- Shipped from
- Mumbai
Questions
Is this actually mean?
It is annoying, which is the point, and it is reversible, which is why it stays funny. You are holding the missing piece. Nobody has lost anything permanently unless you decide they have.
Will they know it came from me?
Only if you want them to. You can send it anonymously, and the card carries your message either way. They find out who you are when they scan the code on it — that part is not optional, and it is the whole deal.
How long before they notice?
Longer than you think. The gap sits on an edge and reads as a piece not yet found, so it usually takes until the final ten minutes of the whole puzzle.
Can I send them the missing piece afterwards?
Yes. It ships to you, separately, in its own envelope. Handing it over is the second half of the gift, and entirely up to you.
What if they hate it?
Then you have learned something about them. Tell us at the grievances desk and we will make it right — we would rather fix it than have you send a box that landed badly.
