If you're here to buy a 1000 piece puzzle, you've already made the easy decision, which is the size. What's left is what really matters: the image. Two 1000 piece boxes with the same board and the same cut can give you a fun week or a month staring at blue pieces.

The average time helps put things in perspective. Each product page counts about one hour per 125 pieces, so around eight hours for a 1000. That's an average. An image full of contrast can come in under that, and a whole sky can double it.

How to read the image before you buy a 1000 piece puzzle

Look at the photo on the box and split it into patches in your head. Each patch with its own colour or texture is a small puzzle inside the big one: you sort those pieces, put them together and move on. The more patches, the easier it gets.

The reverse is also true. A large uniform area, a clear sky, a calm sea, a black background, forces you to try pieces one by one by shape. It isn't impossible. It's just slow, and it's worth knowing that before you buy.

Check the sharpness too. Photos with a blurred background (that effect where the scenery behind goes soft) are among the trickiest, because blur has no lines to guide you.

Photo or illustration

An illustration usually has strong outlines, flat colours and details spread across the whole area. It gives you plenty of clues. A landscape photo is more realistic and looks lovely framed, but it tends to have soft gradients and large similar areas.

Neither is better. It's about what suits the patience of whoever is doing the puzzle.

The format: 68 x 48 cm, as a rule

Educa 1000 piece puzzles almost all finish at 68 x 48 cm; Clementoni's are around 70 x 50 cm. That fits on a kitchen table, with room around it for loose pieces. The exception is the Miniature series, which fits 1000 pieces into 46 x 30 cm: a different kind of challenge, with very small pieces.

Suggestions by type of image

Detailed illustrations (so you always make progress)

If you want something to fit at every moment, go for an illustration. Educa's Kawaii Sushi is a sushi bar with red lanterns, tall stools and dozens of dishes drawn with smiling faces, with almost no empty areas. Happily's Art Cats, illustrated by Nia Gould, turns famous paintings into cats, and each painting is a different patch; it finishes at 68 x 48.5 cm.

Photos where colour guides you

Educa's Jellyfish is the curious case of a dark background that isn't that scary: the pink, orange, blue and violet jellyfish come together first, and the dark sea is left for the end, with the whole space already mapped out. London in Bloom has hot air balloons over Big Ben and the Thames at dusk, with a pink and orange sky. There is a sky, but it changes colour and has balloons in it.

Landscapes with sky or fur (if you want a fight)

Olivo's Pena Palace has sharply defined yellow and red towers, and a sunset sky where the final hours go. The White Bengal Tigers need attention for the white fur and stripes, which repeat a lot. Kirkjufellsfoss Waterfall, in Iceland, brings together falling water and nature, and the water of a waterfall in a photo is all very similar.

Art and collages (if you already have practice)

Clementoni's Van Gogh, The Starry Night, at 70 x 50 cm, is hard in a different way: the swirling brushstrokes all look alike until you work out the direction of each one. Educa's Travel Collages is rated expert. Tickets, postcards, maps and stamps spread on a table, with no focal point at all.

There are more options in our puzzles up to 1000 pieces and, to browse by theme, in our adult puzzles.

Frequently asked questions

Is a 1000 piece puzzle a good idea if you've never done one?

It can be, if the image is generous. An illustration with lots of areas, like Kawaii Sushi, forgives a lack of practice. A whole sky or a dense collage can make you give up in the first week.

Do 1000 piece puzzles come with glue?

Many Educa adult puzzles include Fix Puzzle glue; it's shown in each product's features, as with Jellyfish or Kawaii Sushi. If you'd like to hang the puzzle afterwards, see our guide to framing a puzzle.

What if I need the table back halfway through?

A puzzle mat solves it: you roll it up with the work inside and put it away. You'll find them under accessories.