Halloween Night Jigsaw Puzzle

Halloween Night 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 front porch on Halloween night, seen close from the path. A dark door with a wreath of sunflowers and small pumpkins stands in the middle, between leaded side windows lit from inside. A straw scarecrow in a battered hat, plaid shirt, denim overalls and work boots sits in a rocking chair on the right. Three jack-o'-lanterns glow, two on the left and a grinning one on the right-hand step, among white pumpkins, candle lanterns and orange and yellow mums. Cobweb, plastic spiders and orange string lights cover the railings at both edges. A bowl of sweets sits by the scarecrow's boots, and maple leaves lie across the boards and steps.

Solving Halloween Night

At 50 pieces about 5 pieces in 10 have a near-twin, and about 6 at 100. The carved faces, the scarecrow and the wreath are easy at every size. The wood slows it down: boards and step treads run in long bands of one grey-brown, and by 200 pieces about 7 in 10 have a near-twin. At 1000 pieces it is about 9 in 10, with about 1 piece in 6 plain.

Place the scarecrow and the rocking chair first, then the three jack-o'-lanterns. Build the door, its wreath and the side windows. Add the cobwebbed railings, following the string lights, then the mums, the pumpkins, the candle lanterns and the bowl of sweets. Leave the boards and steps for last, split into leafy pieces and bare wood.

Halloween Night is fourth of five in the holiday set up to 500 pieces: harder than the three outdoor boards, easier only than Lantern Festival. At 1000 pieces it passes the lanterns by a point and has the most look-alikes of the five. At 100 pieces it sits much closer to Harbour Fireworks than to the lanterns.

More holiday jigsaw puzzles

• Harbour FireworksFireworks over a Mediterranean harbour town, with cafés lit along the quay.
• Lantern FestivalPlain red lanterns over a canal at night and a crowded stone bridge.
• Balloon FiestaHot-air balloons inflating on a launch field at sunrise, crews holding them open.
• Carnival NightA funfair at dusk: a waltzer, a lit Ferris wheel and a burger van in the mud.