If you're a cat lover, like myself, you're in for a treat, as Creative Crafthouse's new Picture Frame Puzzle designed by Dave Janelle, the Cat Lovers, promises to deliver a good dose of fun and feline puzzling. Ten different breeds of cats are represented in this puzzle in various sizes and poses, and one unlucky little mouse, which found himself trapped among this clowder. Your task is to find a way for all of these little pranksters to get along inside the tight space of the frame. There's only one way to do this, so get creative...

Made from at least four different types of hardwood, which results in several different colors, the puzzle is a beautiful showcase of the craftsmanship achieved at Creative Crafthouse's shop in Florida. Each cat is a close representation of its living counterpart, made with spots and stripes by delicately carving the wood with subtle lines. Their Picture Frame Puzzles are also quite big and look great on display, measuring about 19.3cm (7.6") in diameter. The puzzle also comes with its own lid so you won't run the risk of losing any piece - it will only close when completely solved.

The Cat Lovers puzzle features a total of 10 different cat breeds, some of them quite exotic and rare, which I even didn't know existed. These are: Maine Coon, Korat, Kao Manee, California Spangled, Nebelung, Bengal, British Shorthair, Aegean, Persian, Peterbald. The rest are kittens, and of course there's the lonely mouse for a total of 12 pieces.

As expected from this type of puzzle the level of difficulty is very high, so you can be sure to be challenged to the limit of your skills and then some... The cats, and mouse, won't occupy the entirety of the frame's area, but the empty spaces between them will be very small. The trick here is to maximize the waste of space by finding parts of pieces that can be joined together as much as possible, as if you were solving a jigsaw puzzle. Leave the mouse for last, since it won't have any real impact in the solving process and can be fitted in one the remaining empty spaces.

Closing Comments:

Picture Frame Puzzles can be easily picked up by anybody, since the concept is very easy to understand. However, few will be able to solve one of these, as their high level of difficulty can bring along some frustration. If you happen to solve one, then you'll experience a great rewarding feeling. The Cat Lovers puzzle is the ultimate gift for all cat lovers out there.

Availability: I got the Cat Lovers puzzle from PuzzlesdeIngenio.com, in Spain.