Achala photos on Flickr

2016 piece double-sided puzzle by Billsville Mike

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Close-up of the Epoch two-sided "Achala Mandala" puzzle. You can see how the puzzle was cut from above along one axis, and below from the other. This makes solving the puzzle a much more methodical approach. It also adds a lot of confusion about whether I've laid a trap for myself by placing a piece in the wrong spot: you can see how one axis fits snugly, the other one not.

2016 piece puzzle, "Achala Mandala" by Epoch, Japan. by Billsville Mike

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15 hours so far.

It's starting to pick up a bit, as I get ready to build and place the inner ring. I'm leaving the right portion unattached because it will be easier to slide the inner-ring pieces in through an open space. This is by far the most fussy cardboard puzzle I've ever dealt with. Touch a piece the wrong way and it pops up like Tiddlywinks. Then you have to figure out where it went and which side is up ..

Really enjoying this puzzle though. Very unique and colorful. I won't get it finished before the mega-marathon starts, tomorrow at 6 p.m. for me, but I do hope to advance to a point where I can move it out of the way without setting myself back too far.

I can now confirm that the opposite side is the same side up as the front.

2016 piece puzzle, "Achala Mandala" by Epoch, Japan. by Billsville Mike

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I thought it would be fitting to start the year 2016 with a 2016-piece puzzle, and I knew just the one to choose. This colorful pile of pieces comes with a twist: the same image is printed on both sides! I'm unsure whether the general symmetry found in a mandala will make this easier or harder. The puzzle pieces were chopped from both sides so it's impossible to tell which side is which, I believe. A potentially difficult puzzle but without any dark or monotonous areas. I've cast the box aside and will work without any image reference.

I think this unusual puzzle might make a worthy addition to dajavous' Gallery of Cardboard Jigsaw Cuts.

Córdoba - Naturaleza - Nature by Federico Pozzi

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Naturaleza en su estado más puro.

Nature in its purest.

2016 piece puzzle, "Achala Mandala" by Epoch, Japan. by Billsville Mike

After 10 hours.

It's creeping along pretty steadily. Overall I'm enjoying it. This will easily be my slowest timed 2000 piece yet.

I could try to connect the two sides but this thing is so fragile I don't dare to until I get further along. There no way I'll have it finished in time for this Friday's German Mega-Marathon so I'll have to put it aside for the weekend. I wouldn't want to work on such a tough puzzle during the marathon event.

Gymnocalycium monvillei steineri RB3396 by Robby's Sukkulentenseite

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Gymnocalycium monvillei steineri RB3396 - RP34, Abz. RP14 Mina Clavero nach El Condor, Cordoba 2002m

2016 piece puzzle, "Achala Mandala" by Epoch, Japan. by Billsville Mike

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Progress after 5 hrs.

I am enjoying the bright colors I was craving after Night Watch but not much of a let-up in difficulty. The quirks of this two-sided puzzle are numerous.

The pieces are cut in two directions, in parallel lines. So, throughout the puzzle, the vertical axis is cut from one side, and the horizontal axis is cut from the opposite side.

This makes the pieces not lay perfectly flat, and to be extremely prone to breaking up by the most casual contact, almost worse than a push-fit puzzle. (The small gap between leaves in the table, for example, has already caused several mishaps.) And Japanese pieces tend not to fit snugly to begin with.

The different cuts on axis would make this puzzle considerably easier if the pieces could easily be oriented by axis - i.e., a vertical or horizontal bias. Alas, this does not exist in Japanese puzzles. If I hadn't mentioned it already, the pieces are half the size of a normal piece, this is a 2016 piecer that's the size of a standard 1000.

The lines framing the outside of the mandala and the symmetrical nature of mandalas generally does make this puzzle a bit easier than it might otherwise be if it were a more random composition, such as a collage of marbles. When I turn a piece over the opposite side often looks quite similar. I have yet to figure out if the reverse side is upside-down or right-side up.

I'm trying to get the red pieces in just to get them out of the way. There will be, I expect, some easier areas where a less mechanical approach can be adopted. The remaining red pieces are aligned with the knobs pointing along the vertical axis, and the "cut from below" side all up and down. I can tell whether it's an above or below piece by feel. The two L-shaped ends are both right-side up, so I will only need to rotate them to put them together. When trying a red piece, I know that the way I have them laid out, the vertical ones will be the right side, and the opposite horizontal ones will be rotated 90 degrees and reversed, so I have to think along those lines.

DAY 2 - The World Trophy of Pastry, Ice Cream and Chocolate FIPGC 2015 by Federazione Pasticceri

DAY 2 - The World Trophy of Pastry, Ice Cream and Chocolate FIPGC 2015.

Campionato Mondiale Pasticceria Gelateria Cioccolateria FIPGC 2015.

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