puzzactal n. a puzzle which has been "fractalized."

Step 1. The cutting template lines of a 19-piece puzzle (in this example "The Hockey Player") were redrawn by wobbling back and forth over the lines.

Step 2. One of these wobbly lines was chosen and cut out.

Step 3. About 7 copies of this line were made and placed on a piece of paper, each line over-lapping another. Wite-out, Scotch Tape, scissors and a good eye were used to build a final cutting template.

Step 4. Images were glued to three 1/8" x 8 1/2" x 11" boards which were then sandwiched between chipboard (ie. cardboard.) The top chipboard had the puzzactal cutting pattern glued to it.

Step 5. The puzzle was "gang cut." Since 3 times 19 was not prime, final adustments to one of the puzzles were made (making it a 23 (which is prime) piece member of the trio.) This adjustment also solved a flatness problem caused by a warped board discovered at assembly time. Here's the template and two of the 61 pieces. 61 is a prime number.

If you're still with me, that's Varma's shirt ... Oh, and BTW, if you click the image above you'll be sent to a page that has ALL the pictures that were taken at the party for the newly-weds!

mobuzzle n. an interesting variation on the standard way of assembling jigsaw puzzles. Find a light's on/off pull chain, take your puzzactal and hang it thus ...

The puzzle discussed above was delivered to Pranab and Sasmita Dash as a gift. Varma, Swetha, Joe and Kavita are in this "triptych" puzzle too. And if you look real close, Maria is too.

I ran it in to Travelers on Thursday February 20th, 2003. As I was running I realized there were 61 days til the 107th Boston Marathon which takes place on April 21, my 61st birthday; 61, 107 and 2003 are all prime numbers!