Kojak – Crime Story Plus Jigsaw – No.1 The Stinger
I recently completed a Kojak themed jigsaw puzzle from 1976 that I thought I’d write about. “Strictly Come Dancing” came back on the box last Saturday night and I found myself looking for a relaxing distraction whilst the Baldwin females monopolised the television.
Commenting on this puzzle appealed because its vintage credentials suit this site (and me of course) and, for a change, I fancied some subject matter that was light hearted and not too demanding. Though the puzzle itself was demanding because it was 750 pieces with no picture provided for guidance (more about that in a moment).
The puzzle called “Kojak – Crime Story Plus Jigsaw – No.1 The Stinger” was one of two produced by Detecto Puzzles and Austin Project Marketing in homage to the TV series and the famous detective that Telly Savalas made his own.
And let’s be frank, Kojak was cool. There can’t be anyone that grew up in the seventies that won’t be familiar with the legendary, lolly pop sucking law enforcer.
The concept for the jigsaw is solving a mystery. The box presents a story about a set of circumstances leading to the death of Edward J. Whyte and the puzzle, once completed, reveals who perpetrated the crime.
Making the thing was challenging for a few reasons aside from the number of pieces. The first issue was the lack of pictorial guidance. Even when doing the edges, I wasn’t sure how the puzzle should be orientated; there was every chance that I’d be making it upside down.
The second issue was that some of the pieces looked like straight edges but weren’t part of the outside perimeter.
The third issue was that there were loads of little odd shaped pieces. You would think you were searching for one piece when in fact you were looking for two or more to fill a normal-piece-shaped hole.
Perseverance was the name of the game. And that was appropriate I guess; rather like the work that the police have to do to piece together crimes and apprehend bad people.
Persevere I did and only once I had solved the crime, did I go on line and see if I could find evidence, via Google, of the picture I had completed. Unsurprisingly I did and so could have saved myself loads of time. But it wouldn’t have been so much fun.
Most satisfactorily of all; all the pieces were present. Nothing lost during the passage of time, 41 years of it.
The picture features the victim driving his Buick station wagon moments before running it off the edge of a cliff. By way of a spoiler … the wife, Jo Ann, did it. She filled her husband’s thermos flask with wasps instead of coffee and when Edward opened his brew, he got attacked/distracted and ran out of road. The end.
Commenting on this puzzle appealed because its vintage credentials suit this site (and me of course) and, for a change, I fancied some subject matter that was light hearted and not too demanding. Though the puzzle itself was demanding because it was 750 pieces with no picture provided for guidance (more about that in a moment).
The puzzle called “Kojak – Crime Story Plus Jigsaw – No.1 The Stinger” was one of two produced by Detecto Puzzles and Austin Project Marketing in homage to the TV series and the famous detective that Telly Savalas made his own.
And let’s be frank, Kojak was cool. There can’t be anyone that grew up in the seventies that won’t be familiar with the legendary, lolly pop sucking law enforcer.
The concept for the jigsaw is solving a mystery. The box presents a story about a set of circumstances leading to the death of Edward J. Whyte and the puzzle, once completed, reveals who perpetrated the crime.
Making the thing was challenging for a few reasons aside from the number of pieces. The first issue was the lack of pictorial guidance. Even when doing the edges, I wasn’t sure how the puzzle should be orientated; there was every chance that I’d be making it upside down.
The second issue was that some of the pieces looked like straight edges but weren’t part of the outside perimeter.
The third issue was that there were loads of little odd shaped pieces. You would think you were searching for one piece when in fact you were looking for two or more to fill a normal-piece-shaped hole.
Perseverance was the name of the game. And that was appropriate I guess; rather like the work that the police have to do to piece together crimes and apprehend bad people.
Persevere I did and only once I had solved the crime, did I go on line and see if I could find evidence, via Google, of the picture I had completed. Unsurprisingly I did and so could have saved myself loads of time. But it wouldn’t have been so much fun.
Most satisfactorily of all; all the pieces were present. Nothing lost during the passage of time, 41 years of it.
The picture features the victim driving his Buick station wagon moments before running it off the edge of a cliff. By way of a spoiler … the wife, Jo Ann, did it. She filled her husband’s thermos flask with wasps instead of coffee and when Edward opened his brew, he got attacked/distracted and ran out of road. The end.
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