The Kama Sutra of the Jigsaw Puzzle

By Carol Segal / New York City

It is unlikely that any two lovers could possibly know each other’s bodies as well as a seasoned jigsaw puzzle devotee knows the puzzle they work on from start to finish.

Working on a jigsaw puzzle is an astonishingly intimate experience. As the puzzle takes shape, you, the serious puzzler, become hyper aware of every nook and cranny, every curve and every edge. Your eyes become laser-focused on the subtleties of each piece in a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. You become mesmerized by detail, contour, every nuance of color, the range of chromatic hue. When you're immersed this deeply into a puzzle's pieces, the total picture is no longer important. Instead, it is the hunt, the conquest, and the insertions. They quickly become the obsessions.

Perhaps you are looking for that piece with the azure blue on one end and the green tree leaves on the thin insert end. But there is a dusting of sunlight in the middle that must not be confused with the piece bearing similar clues that belongs on the other side of the puzzle in the pool of blue water and a blurred seaweed leaf and the indication of a fish’s bubble wake.  Every female puzzle piece groove has a male puzzle piece counterpart and only the exact one will fit precisely into her unique curves and concavities. Your eyes learn to assess each piece’s shape with shameless scrutiny; you’re looking to see if it has a long connecting end or a stubby one or if it has a shallow pocket or a deep one.

As a child, I already sensed the thrill of fitting jigsaw puzzle pieces into their places.  Perhaps it was an inborn heightened spatial awareness: the pursuit of perfect lines, as I was an aspiring ballerina early on.  Seeing shapes and details with my eyes, imprinting them in my mind, and then replicating them were second nature.

When I was young and did jigsaw puzzles with a friend or two, there was the added excitement of competition.  Who would be the first to find all the end pieces and complete the frame?  Who would zero in on completing an entire corner? Most covetous of all, who would grab the last piece, triumphantly and single-handedly finishing the puzzle?

The years passed and a short dance career was realized, college studies came, followed by marriage and children.  My puzzle time was pushed aside. I barely touched a jigsaw puzzle for a couple of decades.  When I came back to them during the pandemic, I discovered a surprising new haptic dimension.

As you root through the pieces in the puzzle box, your eyes scan for that elusive one that is going to connect something big. Jigsaw puzzle pieces don't look the same to you now; each one is distinct to your experienced eye, expertly honed to super-powered vision. Then suddenly, the quest has come to an end; you find that piece that joins an entire section into synchrony. You see the pattern; you see every curve and indentation line up. Under your fingers, you feel the sweet, sensual snap of pieces finding their place.

The solitary jigsaw puzzler may go deep into its meditational qualities, but to share the activity with one or more equally devoted puzzle aficionados at the same table opens up the personal space for ongoing conversations or light debates or even singing together.  Coinciding activities do not disrupt the tactile senses. Chatting while searching the box, debating while testing different insertion possibilities here and there, singing while snapping pieces into their places.  No matter how many dedicated puzzlers may converge around the puzzle at the same time, they still experience the unspoken triumph of the find, as they slip those lone pieces into the only ones that await their completion.

In these uncertain and chaotic times when nothing seems to cohere, a jigsaw puzzle can often help to put the pieces together.

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Born and raised in Portland, OR, Carol danced with the Portland Ballet Company for six years. After moving to New York City in 1979 and marrying a musician a few years later, she built a flourishing career as a personal trainer. Her business has spanned four decades and continues to this day, now specializing as a senior citizen fitness consultant. Two children and three grandchildren later, she is a published memoir essayist: “25 Miles to Go Now” Feminine Collection, 2018; “Warm Bread,” The Cooks Cook, 2023. Her first novel is nearing completion.