Gingerbread House Jigsaw Puzzle

Gingerbread House at every size

Par is the time your score is measured against at that size. The rest is measured from the picture itself: how many pieces have a near-twin by colour once it is cut.

What the picture shows

A gingerbread house stands right of centre on a kitchen table, just finished. White icing drips from its eaves, gumdrops sit in rows on the roof, peppermint swirls run along the ridge, candy canes form the corners and a green wreath hangs on its arched door. A baking tray of iced gingerbread men fills the bottom left. Behind them lie a rolling pin, a heap of flour, a red-striped tea towel, a jar of sprinkles and small bowls of sweets. A piping bag lies to the right of the house, and a bowl of sugared gumdrops sits in the bottom-right corner. A window onto snowy trees fills the back.

Solving Gingerbread House

The table, the gingerbread and the rolling pin share one warm brown, so about 7 pieces in 10 have a near-twin at 50 pieces. Gumdrops, peppermints and bowls stay easy at every size. Wood grain scattered with sprinkles and the brown gingerbread men repeat as the cut gets finer. By 1000 pieces about 9 in 10 have a near-twin and about 1 in 8 is plain, mostly the bright window.

Build the house first: the roof by its gumdrop rows, then the icing drips, the door and the candy canes. Place the bowl of gumdrops and the piping bag beside it. Then the tray of gingerbread men, each one by its buttons. The bowls, the sprinkles jar, the rolling pin and the flour come next, then the window. Fill the floury table last.

Gingerbread House is one of the harder Christmas boards at 50 pieces, tied with Snowman in the Garden at about 7 pieces in 10 with a near-twin. From 100 pieces up it sits in the middle of the set.

More christmas jigsaw puzzles

• Christmas EveA snowy high street at night with Christmas lights, wreaths and shoppers.
• Christmas MarketWooden Christmas market stalls and a carousel in a square of half-timbered houses at dusk.
• Tree OrnamentsGlass baubles, wooden toys and felt ornaments hung close on a real Christmas tree.
• Christmas CookiesIced Christmas cookies in stars, trees, bells and snowmen on a baking tray and a cooling rack.
• Snowy CottageA stone cottage with a red door and a holly wreath in an English village after snow.
• Toy Shop WindowAn old toy shop window at Christmas, with a train, teddy bears, a dolls' house and toy soldiers.
• Town Ice RinkSkaters lacing boots and circling a lit Christmas tree on an outdoor rink in an old town square.
• Reindeer FarmFour reindeer eating hay from a wooden trough by a red barn on a snowy farm.
• Cardinal in the HollyA red cardinal perched in a snowy holly bush, with a wooden bird feeder behind.
• Winter CabinA red Swedish cabin with white window frames among snowy pines, with a snowmobile and a sled outside.
• Christmas DinnerA Christmas dinner table with a carved turkey, crackers, candles and paper crowns.
• Snowman in the GardenA lopsided snowman in a striped scarf and bobble hat in a back garden after snow.
• Christmas Tree FarmA family pulling a cut Christmas tree on a cart past rows of firs on a snowy farm.
• Presents Under the TreeWrapped presents, a sleeping cat and a toy train under the Christmas tree by the fire.
• Nutcracker MantelPainted wooden nutcrackers, candles and a clock on a Christmas mantelpiece above knitted stockings.