Museum, Panorama, Impossible, More is More, Story Maps, Colorboom, Compact, Maxi. These are the names you run into when you buy a Clementoni puzzle, and each one is a range. The Italian brand organises its catalogue this way, and the name of the range already tells you a lot about the format and difficulty of the puzzle inside.

This guide is for people who have already decided on a Clementoni and need to work out which one.

Buying a Clementoni puzzle: what makes it different

Clementoni puzzles are made in Italy from recycled board, with high definition printing. That is on the product pages and you can see it in the colours, especially on illustrations.

The size is different too. A 1000 piece Clementoni finishes at 70 x 50 cm, slightly bigger than Educa's 68 x 48. It sounds minor. It isn't if you buy a frame before the puzzle is done: a frame made for 68 x 48 will not fit.

The 500 comes to 49 x 36 cm. Have a Cozy Christmas, at 1500 pieces, reaches 84.5 x 59.5 cm.

Another useful detail: many recent boxes include a poster of the image. Working with the poster propped next to the table is far easier than picking up the box lid every few minutes. Each product page says whether the poster is included.

Glue, on the other hand, is not listed on the Clementoni product pages we carry. If you plan to frame it, bear that in mind.

The adult ranges we stock

• Museum: reproductions of paintings. Van Gogh, The Starry Night is the classic example, with a swirling sky that makes you read the direction of the brushstrokes piece by piece.
• Panorama: 1000 pieces in a wide format, 98 x 33 cm. Panorama Pixar, listed on its product page as part of the High Quality Collection, puts ten films in one long strip.
• Impossible: images with no focal point, designed to be hard. Impossible Minions is yellow from edge to edge. There is a whole collection for them, Clementoni Impossible.
• More is More: maximalist collages packed with objects, in a compact box. More is More Books & Writing has bookshops, shelves, typewriters and newspaper cuttings, and every area has its own texture, so the puzzle moves along nicely.
• Story Maps: illustrated maps of well known stories, such as Story Maps: Alice.
• Colorboom: colour abstracts. Colorboom Marbles is hundreds of marbles with no clear reference point, and it is one of the slowest to finish.

Licensed puzzles are left out of this list, and Clementoni has a lot of them: Disney, Marvel, Stranger Things, KPop Demon Hunters, horror films. KPop Demon Hunters Golden, for example, comes in the Compact 1000 line with a poster. And in December there is the Christmas Collection, with Christmas illustrations in 500, 1000 and 1500 pieces.

What about children?

Clementoni's children's puzzles are organised by format more than by range.

The 2x20 and 3x48 sets have several small pictures in one box: Mickey and Friends 2x20 is recommended from age 3, Winnie the Pooh 3x48 from age 4. Maxi puzzles have bigger pieces and finish at floor size: Maxi Adventure in Dino Land has 104 pieces and measures 70 x 50 cm, the same as an adult 1000. At that size, it is easier to do on the living room floor than on a small table.

And there are cube puzzles, like Stitch in 12 cubes, where each face makes a different picture. At age 3, when flat pieces still slip out of small hands, they work very well.

The full range, adult and children's, is in the Clementoni puzzles collection.

Clementoni FAQ

Clementoni or Educa?

Both make good puzzles and the fit is firm with either. In practice, the image decides. If you already own a frame, then the finished size decides: 70 x 50 for Clementoni, 68 x 48 for Educa.

How long does a 1000 piece Clementoni take?

Each product page shows the estimated time, and a 1000 lasts several evenings. An Impossible or a Colorboom can easily take twice as long as a 1000 with an ordinary illustration.

Do the puzzles arrive sealed?

Yes. They are new, in the original sealed box. If you change your mind, you can return it within 14 days of delivery, unopened (return shipping is at your cost).

Is it worth buying several?

If you already have several in mind, yes: the basket applies an automatic discount from 5 puzzles, and you can mix brands and sizes.