How long does a 50-piece jigsaw puzzle take?

Par here is about 7 minutes: the time your score is measured against at this size. The pictures at the top of the list above sort by colour and go faster; the ones at the bottom are mostly shape work.

Do I have to finish a 50-piece puzzle in one go?

No. Your board is saved as you play and the clock pauses while you are away, so you can come back to it in another sitting.

50-Piece Jigsaw Puzzles

Fifty big pieces: a coffee-break puzzle, and the easiest way to try a picture before cutting it smaller. On most pictures almost every piece has something on it, so colour does the sorting for you.

Par at this size is about 7 minutes. Once a picture is cut into 50 pieces, about 5 in 10 pieces have a near-twin by colour on average, so the pictures below run from the easiest at this size to the hardest.

Playing at 50 pieces

Fifty pieces suits a first look at a new picture, a child at the keyboard, or a few spare minutes on a phone, where large pieces are easier to pick up with a thumb. A picture opens at fifty until you pick another size, and after that at the size you last picked. It is one of the three sizes the daily puzzle is cut at.

The board is cut 5 rows by 10 columns, so 26 of the 50 pieces sit on the border. That makes the frame half the puzzle, and once it is built there are only 24 pieces left to place inside it. The board is split into four sections, and finishing each one pays a charge. Par allows about 8 seconds a piece, the tightest pace of any size.

Sort by the picture rather than by shape. On 13 of the 53 pictures, fewer than 4 pieces in 10 have a near-twin at this size, so most pieces show where they go, and on most of the rest the large pieces still carry a recognisable part of a face, a roof or a boat. Place what you recognise first and save the doubtful pieces for the end, so that the drops in between all connect.

Questions people ask

How long does a 50-piece jigsaw puzzle take?: Par here is about 7 minutes: the time your score is measured against at this size. The pictures at the top of the list above sort by colour and go faster; the ones at the bottom are mostly shape work.
Do I have to finish a 50-piece puzzle in one go?: No. Your board is saved as you play and the clock pauses while you are away, so you can come back to it in another sitting.