Green Hills Jigsaw Puzzle

Green Hills 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 summer hay meadow in the mountains, seen from inside the long grass. The bottom half is tall grass full of pink fireweed spikes and round lilac scabious flowers, with small white and yellow flowers between them. A split-rail wooden fence crosses the middle from the left edge toward a wooden hay shed on the right, which has a grey shingle roof and hay stacked inside. Dark spruce forest rises on both sides, with a few pale birches. Behind it, layered blue-green ridges run across the frame, some topped with grass, under a strip of white cloud and blue sky at the top.

Solving Green Hills

At 50 pieces about 6 pieces in 10 have a near-twin, because the forest and the distant ridges share the same dark green and blue. At 100 pieces it sorts better, about 5 in 10. From 200 pieces up the grass and the spruces repeat, and by 1000 pieces about 9 pieces in 10 have a near-twin. The hay shed, the fence and the scabious heads stay easy to place at every size.

Start with the hay shed and its grey roof, then lay the fence from the shed to the left edge. Build the strip of sky and cloud along the top, and the ridges under it, sorted from pale and far to dark and near. Add the spruce forest on both sides. Fill the meadow last, the scabious and fireweed first and the plain grass between them after.

Green Hills is the easiest mountain picture from 100 pieces up, with about 5 pieces in 10 that have a near-twin at 100. At 50 pieces it sits in the middle of the five, at about 6 pieces in 10 with a near-twin.

More mountain jigsaw puzzles

• Alpine LakeA turquoise lake under a snowy peak, larches turning yellow on its shores and two backpacks on the rocks.
• Mountain VillageWooden chalets, a white church spire and three grazing cows below clouded snowy peaks.
• Glacier TrailA rocky trail with stone cairns above a milky glacier lake, one hiker far ahead.
• Autumn CanyonA muddy river winds between red sandstone cliffs, lined with yellow cottonwoods.