Lighthouse Cove at every size

Pieces	Par	What it is like
50 pieces	about 7 minutes	About 5 pieces in ten have a near-twin at this size. Almost every piece has something on it.
100 pieces	about 17 minutes	About 6 pieces in ten have a near-twin at this size. Most pieces carry some texture.
200 pieces	about 41 minutes	About 7 pieces in ten have a near-twin at this size. Most pieces carry some texture.
500 pieces	about 2 hours	About 8 pieces in ten have a near-twin at this size. Most pieces carry some texture.
1000 pieces	about 5½ hours	About 9 pieces in ten have a near-twin at this size. Most pieces carry some texture.

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 white lighthouse with a red lantern stands on a headland on the right, beside a white keeper's cottage. Below it dark rocky cliffs drop into a turquoise cove where waves break in white foam. A white sailing boat crosses the bay on the left. On the far shore a village of white and grey houses climbs a green hillside above a harbour wall and a small sandy beach. White clouds fill the top half of the sky, and the foreground is a clifftop of pink thrift, purple heather and yellow gorse with a dirt path.

Solving Lighthouse Cove

At 50 pieces about 5 pieces in 10 already have a near-twin, because the clouds and the sea each spread one tone across a wide area. The lighthouse, the boat and the village are quick at any size. At large sizes the clouds are the hardest part: white on white with soft edges. The flowers in the foreground stay busy however small the cut.

Start with the lighthouse and its cottage, then the dark cliffs under them. Add the white boat on the left. Build the village and the harbour along the far shore next, then the green fields above. Sort the sea by foam: heavy surf by the rocks, calm turquoise further out. Do the clifftop flowers along the bottom, and leave the clouds and blue sky for last.

Lighthouse Cove sits third of the four beach pictures at 50 and 100 pieces, then moves up: level with Beach Huts at 200, level with Tropical Lagoon for the easiest at 500, and the easiest of the four at 1000. From 100 to 500 pieces it has the most plain pieces in the beach set, nearly all of them cloud and sea, and at 1000 only the lagoon has more.