Jigsaw puzzle
type of tiling puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle (with context, sometimes just jigsaw or just puzzle) is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped, interlocking, and mosaicked pieces. Typically each puzzle piece contains a portion of a picture, which is completed by solving the puzzle.
In the 18th century, jigsaw puzzles were created by painting a picture on a flat, rectangular piece of wood, then cutting it into small pieces. The name "jigsaw" derives from the tools used to cut the images into pieces—variably identified as jigsaws, fretsaws or scroll saws. John Spilsbury, a London cartographer and engraver, is credited with commercialising jigsaw puzzles around 1760. His design took world maps, and cut out the individual nations in order for them to be reassembled by students as a geographical teaching aid. They are now made primarily of interlocking cardboard pieces, incorporating a variety of images and artwork.
Jigsaw puzzles have been used in research studies examining cognitive abilities such as mental rotation visuospatial ability in young children.
Typical images on jigsaw puzzles include scenes from nature, buildings, and repetitive designs. Castles and mountains are among traditional subjects, but any picture can be used.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q181008. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1760.
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This entry incorporates text from “Jigsaw puzzle” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.