Hedgehog & Blossoms Jigsaw Puzzle

Hedgehog & Blossoms 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 hedgehog walks along a wet stone path from the left, nose down, its brown spines tipped with cream and its face soft and pale. Fallen apple blossom, white and pink, lies on the paving round it, with moss and small weeds in the cracks. A branch of apple blossom with pink buds and green leaves fills the top-left corner. On the right are blue forget-me-nots, broad tulip leaves and one dark pink tulip bud, and two snails, one on a raised stone and one crossing the path at the bottom right. Behind, a flower pot, dark shrubs and a wooden gate stand against a dusk sky that glows orange at the horizon.

Solving Hedgehog & Blossoms

At 50 pieces about 5 pieces in 10 have a near-twin. Spines, petals, snail shells and blue flowers survive even a fine cut. The wet paving is the hard part as the board gets bigger: grey stone and scattered petals look much alike across the bottom half. Plain pieces stay rare, fewer than 1 in 10 at 1000 pieces.

Build the hedgehog first, pulling out every piece with spines on it, then the face, eye and nose. Place the two snails on the right and the forget-me-nots above them. Add the apple blossom branch in the top-left corner. Then the gate, the pot and the orange sky at the top centre. Fill the wet paving last, using the fallen petals to tell one stone from another.

Hedgehog & Blossoms is second only to Puppy in Bloom among the animals at 50, 200 and 1000 pieces. At 100 Red Panda Treetops edges past it and the kitten draws level, and at 500 the red panda passes it again. At 1000 about 9 pieces in 10 have a near-twin here, fewer than on any animal but the puppy.

More animal jigsaw puzzles

• Kitten in the MeadowA tabby kitten sits in long garden grass among daisies and dandelions.
• Puppy in BloomA golden retriever puppy lies on a lawn beside a border of cosmos, marigolds and lavender.
• Red Panda TreetopsA red panda rests along a mossy branch among wet bamboo and rhododendron leaves.
• Lion PrideA lioness rests by a green acacia bush, two cubs sitting beside her, one chewing a stick.
• Fox in the SnowA red fox curled in fresh snow at the edge of a birch wood.