I solve jigsaw puzzles of thousands of pieces. Not only is it unusual, it is useless as well. But the point is, I love doing them, sometimes I sit with them for several hours and solve them. Some say that it is good for the memory, shape and color recognition of the brain. I haven’t observed any pronounced effects to my brain because of these puzzles. In fact, I feel I’m quick and I do it better than others because my memory, shape and color recognition is good. This was a gift. I was 12 when I solved it. 1000 Pieces. When I completed the puzzle, to my utter shock and dismay, a few pieces were missing. I cut out those empty spots on cardboard, painted them and put them all together. Losing puzzle pieces is not fun!