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About the puzzle
Name: Historical World Maps
Number of Pieces: 18,240
Size when put together: About 276 x 192 cm (6.3 x 9 feet)
Made in Germany, 2002
About the Assembly
Participants: Chris and Naomi Hathaway
Start/End Date: April 25, 2004 to April 17, 2005
Number of Man Hours: Way too many to count.
The Puzzle

The Story
I served and LDS mission in Austria, where puzzles and board games are considerably more popular than here in the states. Well, one P-Day, we were just shopping around and I saw this puzzle from Ravensburger (a German company). I thought to myself, "Man, who in their right mind would try to put together something like that." Well, about a year later, I was back home and dating my future wife, Naomi. I found out she enjoyed puzzles and games, so the next time we were at the local game shop, I had to show her this monster of a puzzle. When she saw it, she immediately exclaimed, "Ahh, I love maps! I want to do this puzzle." So, a few months later, she bought it on eBay for a lot less than it usually costs (it's usually about 175, but we got it for just over 100). We were rather relieved when we opened it up and found that the four maps that fit together to make the big puzzle were in separate bags, so it was more like doing 4 4500-piece puzzles, but still a monstrous task. So, on April 25, 2004, we started on the first of the four maps.
After getting through a large part of the first portion of the puzzle, we realized we needed to start thinking about how to store the parts of the puzzle as we completed them. Naomi lived in a small college apartment, so we could barely fit one panel at a time, and then, after we got married, we still could only fit one fourth of it in our study, where we continued to work on it. Eventually, we came across an idea that worked quite nicely. Whenever we needed to move a portion of the puzzle (or store it so we could start on the next one), we would place the puzzle on a large piece of felt, then take a long cardboard tube and simply roll it up. As we finished each fourth, we would simply roll it up on top of the old one. This made the puzzle very portable and storeable, despite its great size. After finally finishing all four panels, we simply unrolled each in our living room (the only room big enough to fit them all), and connected them together to reach the final product. We completed the puzzle just under one year later, on April 17, 2005.
Now, I must give credit where credit is due; my wife Naomi was the main contributor in putting together this puzzle (she is much better at it than I), and probably was responsible for at least 80% of the complete puzzle, while I chipped in the other 20% (I did most of the sorting of pieces, and helped somewhat in the assembly). I would say the most difficult part of the puzzle was the thick gold band that separated each panel. The pieces were all the exact same color, and often times, pieces would fit in a place fine, but then at the end there would be pieces that didn't fit in the leftover holes, so you had to keep trying different rearrangements until all of the pieces fit. I never had the patience to do that kind of work; that was all my wife.
As soon as we find a house big enough, I would like to have the puzzle glued together and hung in a study or library, though this may not be for many years to come. Naomi is not nearly as concerned; she, I think, is just glad that it's done. I searched online quite a bit, and only found 2 (maybe 3) instances of people reporting to actually finish the entire puzzle, but I believe we did it the quickest. Plus, when we started, we were only engaged, and so we had probably a good month break in July when we were married. And no, we didn't have a puzzle-themed wedding :)
Comments
Puzzle
I was very pleased to find that someone has completed the total 18,000 piece World Maps puzzle. I have been quite curious if anyone completed it and how many. Only those that have completed a section can appreciate the involvement of doing this puzzle.
I am about 90 % finished with the 4th section, but I did not complete all of the borders. I just had to many problems and to much frustration. I knew I would have problems joining the sections and I also had no place to even try, so I straight edge cut the borders.
I was very much impressed with your complete picture.
Sincerely, Jim Bowman
My fiance has a fasination
My fiance has a fasination with maps since he is a civil engineer and land surveyor. He found this site with your story and began his search to find and purchase this puzzle (he's amazing at them)! After almost 3 years of looking in stores around Iowa and online we found not a single one. We did however see them online priced at over $250 and an extra $50 for shipping at the cheapest but always unavailable since they don't make it anymore. Just today we went into a mall in Des Moines, IA to do Christmas shopping and I seen this puzxle. My fiance's jaw dropoed! We couldn't believe it was sittong in front of us! I purchased it for him for $160, a great steal compared to the prices we have seen online! Austin, my fiance, walked away with the biggest smile on his face and perhaps the best Christmas presrnt ever! We haven't decided if we want to put it together and hang it in his office at work or save it as a collectors item, being it is over 10 years old and not made anymore...but we are leaning more on putting it together :) I am hoping to keep a log of how many hrs it takes us to put together and time it takes!
got some questions
hello
i m pornthep from thailand
i m planning to buy and complete the 18000 pcs puzzle
but i got some questions to ask you
well first of all congrats about ur wedding n completion of a big puzzle
1. is it too fast to try the 18000 pcs by just doin a few 1000 pcs jigsaw puzzle which took 2 weeks(half hour each day)
2. is the pieces good n what about the shape is every pieces got the same shape??
3.did yu guys have trouble with any main part apart from the borders
4.are yu putting a frame around the jigsaw?
thanx a lot
hope yu wontt mind me askin a lot !!
:)
answers to some questions
1. This puzzle took longer than other puzzles mostly because I would get tired of working on it and take much longer breaks than I would with smaller puzzles. Each of the four sections took 2-3 months and I would take long breaks before I would start the next one. If I worked on it constantly I could have had it done much sooner. The trick is sticking to it and not giving up.
2. There are different shapes for pieces, but I did start to notice patterns. Skinnier pieces went one way and short fat pieces went the other direction. There were less odd shaped pieces and they often seemed to go in straight lines vertically throughout the puzzle. The border was hard because lots of the pieces fit together even though they were in the wrong place and there was no picture to tell you if you were right or not since they all looked the same.
3. I would say other than the border the hardest thing were some of the oceans on the maps. Especially the one where the whole thing was cream colored with black dots. There was just a lot to do. I always saved the maps for last and did the ocean very last.
4. For now we're storing the puzzle on big pieces of felt rolled up around cardboard tubes. When we get to a more permanant home someday we will probably glue the puzzle together and maybe frame it.
Ravensburger Puzzle question
Hi,
I am writing all the way from South Africa. Congratulations on finishing the puzzle. I imported the puzzle for my wife last year after she spotted it on the internet. It was not available here in South Africa, so we asked a family member to send us one from the States. We have a puzzle room and I built my wife a special puzzle table to accommodate the puzzle. She has been buzy on the puzzle all by herself (I have my own hobbies) for almost a year and hopes to finish within the next two weeks. However, she seems to struggle with the golden border and I was hoping that you could provide some help. She would like to know how many rows make up the golden borders between the four maps, both the one horizontally and vertically? At the moment the left two puzzles fit perfectly onto the right two puzzles with no additional rows of gold, meaning that they only have a thin golden border separating them (equal to 2x half a puzzle piece = thickness of roughly one puzzle piece). On the other hand, the border between the top and bottom two maps seem to be a thick border and she was expecting all the borders, the ones in-between and the ones on the outside, to be the same thickness (same number of golden rows). Referring to the golden border pieces that come with one quarter of the puzzle (one map), how much of the dividing border does it cover and is this the same for each quarter? The number of golden border pieces just doesn't make sense at the moment. I am hoping to save her some agony and frustration by getting some advice on how to approach these borders. A good start would be to know how thick (number of puzzle rows) each border is.
border thickness
I don't remember exactly how many rows thick the border was and unfortunately we have the puzzle rolled up and stored right now. My recollection is that the border was about 3-4 rows thick. The problem with the gold pieces is that they do fit together in a variety of ways so your wife may have fit them together incorrectly and may still need to add a row of gold pieces. I'm glad I don't have to do those gold pieces again. I about lost my mind. Hopefully you can get some other feedback here from others who have done the puzzle more recently and can give you a more accurate number. In the picture above you can at least see how equal the border looks around the edges and in between the maps.
18000 puzzle
I have done the maps and I'm doing the Jungle one now (by myself - I'm the only puzzler in the household). I have done many oversize puzzles and have always opened all the bags and dumped all the pieces into the box together. I made the mistake of doing this with the maps. The border is indeed 4 pieces thick and having all border pieces mixed together made me completely nuts. So on the current one I separated the border pieces and did those in 4 separate quadrants, but then dumped all the non-border pieces in the box and mixed them up so I'm really doing one large puzzle and not 4 mid-sized ones.
18000 puzzle
Hello there,
My name is Jason and I too just got married the day before you started the mammoth puzzle (5/16/05). I think you guys did finish it quicker than I but I had virtually zero help, especially from my wife. She is NOT a puzzle person. It took me about 360 days, with a 3 month break in the summer. I do believe I am the first in the US to complete it though. A lady in Ireland finished in Oct of 03 and I was Dec 03. It was a lot of fun to do. I was on 2 news stations and in the local paper. Right now the puzzle is in my local mall here in Rochester, NY at a game store that sells puzzles. I guess everyone loves it. I did build a nice frame around it too. My story is listed at puzzlehistory.com under record breaking puzzles. Although I guess it is not the largest anymore. Did you hear about the 22,4000 and also 19 something thou. Trying to get myhands on now. Will keep yoiu posted.
Jason
Big puzzles
I just found your page trough a forum, and i found a link for those big puzzles that you mention. You can see them here:
http://www.art-puzzle.com/irw_list.5747535030303033.html
We have started out with a bit smaller ones at 1000 pcs and have made those for many years because we havent had the space, but want more challenge since we can make those in about 8 hours now non-stop. We only have a 20 squaremeter livingroom and an ordinary dinnertable :-) I also understand now that any puzzle can be done - its just a matter of time, rather than experience :-)
I also understand that those enormous puzzle only is made once in a lifetime.
Sincerely, Anette from Denmark
18000 puzzle...again
sorry i mean to say 4/16/05 was my wedding date not 5/16
Puzzle madness
When Naomi put together the 3D golden hollogram puzzle, I thought she was a mix of crazy and amazing. Now I know that she's just plain crazy!
Just kidding. I am amazed that you guys finished it!!!
You deserve an award or something.
I wish I knew this was on the internet last year...ha ha...i know my comment is a little late.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
18000 tropical impressions puzzle
NYC Ravensburger puzzle
Would you be willing to sell the Ravensburger 12,000 pice puzzle you put together? I have been looking for this puzzle for YEARS! Many thanks for considering this and I will pay any asking price.
Ravensburger NY 12,000 pc puzzle
I was doing some research on this puzzle and ran across your post to asking if someone was willing to sell his puzzle. Are you still looking for it?
I happen to have the Ravensburger 178315 12,000 pc New York puzzle and I am trying to sell it. It is NIB with the shrink wrap intact. Are you still looking to purchase it? I have it posted on Craigslist right now for $200 and was told by another collector that she paid much more for one that had already been put together (current new Ravensburger 12,000 pc puzzles are going for $130), but if you want to make me an offer, I will consider it. You would have to pay for shipping if necessary. I can send you a pic if you need it, but is sounds like you are familiar with the puzzle.
I’m not a scammer or spammer – just having some tough financial luck and am trying to sell some of my collectibles and stuff that is taking up space. If you are interested in the puzzle I can send you some info on me so that you can check me out. I know there are too many scammers out there, and I am not one of them.
Thanks!
I talked to a couple people
I talked to a couple people who said suggested it is worth more than I am asking, so I'm putting it on Ebay.
18000 tropical impressions
reply to andrew
tropical impressions
thanks very much for your reply. It looks as though I have a rogue puzzle. Is is possible for you to tell me what the bag numbers were so I can compare them with mine. I suppose it is just possible that some of the pieces I need are in the other bags? With doing each quarter seperately I have just about completed all the green pieces but the top left quarter will not fit together with the right. Goodness knows where I would have been if I had mixed all the pieces together. I must say that the green edges make the puzzle unecessarily difficult and less interesting that if it were all picture. I must say I am very impressed that you have completed the whole puzzle mixing the pieces together.
to Andrew
I had the same problem with our puzzle. The pieces look like they're in the right places, but if it doesn't fit the other quarter you need to try moving pieces around. It's sooo frustrating. Your puzzle isn't broken, if you sent it back and received another you would still have the same problem. The border was definitely the hardest part of the puzzle. By the end I was about ready to force them to fit. Just keep working at it and you should get it eventually.
hey there,congratulations
Hello therei was just
Hello there
i was just looking through the web for this puzzle and i finally found somebody that has finished it
i am 17 years old and really puzzle fanatic
i saw this huge thing in a local store about 2 years ago and i decided to take the challenge, after 3-4 months i had achieved my goal to finish it
i admit it was really hard (especialy the gold edges) and the fact that i was the only one trying to put it together (none of my family members is really patient) made it more difficult
i had to come up with a lot of "tricks" to finish it, like categorize the pieces based on sape and not color
some times i had to sleep in the floor because my bed was out of my room so the puzzle could fit :p
here is a foto of me, my father and a family friend (from left to right) trying to put the puzzle in the wall, it is not really clear because we used a cellphone and not a camera :(
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/1052/image543ns1.jpg
i hope ravensburger will make an even bigger one than that :D
Greeting from USA
Kyriakos
congrats
Ravensburger World Maps Saga
Hey, I just found this page
i always mix the bags for
i always mix the bags for all my puzzles - & i have completed all the large ones. i am eagerly waiting for the next new puzzle issue with 10k+ pc.
Just bought this one puzzle
Greetings from Serbia!
Your puzzle is really gorgeus ... I bought in april this year 9000 Ravensburger puzzle - an old map...and finished it with my sister in exactly 20 days 6-8 hours every day (although i did 80% of the job alone). Today I bought this 18240 pieces Old Map puzzle. I suppose that this one can be put together in two months or so. But that adventure will wait.....till i graduate in 2-3 months. I bought this puzzle only because it was ONLY one ever imported here...and I was afraid that someone will buy it...and i bought it even i dont have time to solve it right now :)
Puzzles without pictures
Hi Folks,
WOW ! Congratulations on completing such a HUGE puzzle, that's really an achievement.
I found this site by accident, and I wondered if any of you puzzle addicts could tell me where I can get (in the UK preferably) jigsaw puzzles without pictures - by that I mean a picture puzzle in a 'blank' box with no reference picture to help you put it together. I've been told they exist but I can't find one anywhere. I've seen the Agatha Christie Mystery puzzles but they're not really what I want. Any help or suggestions appreciated.
What to use to put together the 18,000 pc. puzzle
Hi,
I am seeking ideas on what to use to assembly my 18,000 piece puzzles on.
I am at my wits end.
Help.
Julia
Assembly Surface
I came up with a fold-up table top to enlarge my kitchen table when I put together my 12,000 David Reaching Out to God Puzzle.
1. Buy four pieces of foam-core board--it's stiffer than poster board but still light weight. Use duct tape to tape the four pieces together like the board of a board game, i.e., so they fold on top of one another.
2. At a fabric store, buy several yards of heavy felt, enough to fit a panel of the puzzle. Also ask if you can have one of their discarded fabric bolts (it's like a huge paper towel roll, about five feet long). Duct tape the felt to the bolt.
3. Place the foam-core on the table, and lay the felt over the foam-core board. When you are done working on the puzzle and need you use the table, just roll the puzzle up. You will need to reassemble minor sections, but nothing major. Just be careful not to put too much weight on the foam-core board that is not supported by the table!
Good luck.
12,000 piece ravensburger the creation of adam jigsaw
Hi Kara,
Congrats on completing the 12,000 piece jigsaw,
i am in the process of making the puzzle. but with two small childreen to look after.
it is hard to find the time to put aside for the puzzle.
i have it now for four years and would be gratefull if you could help me.
maybe take a pic of it.
I think that would help a lot.
Again, a very well done, on completing the puzzle.
yours thankfully,
Sean.
Assemble your 18,000 piece puzzle
Hi, use a kitchen table,put a 1/4 - 4x8 sheet of plywood on top, or 2 4x4 sheets, then you will have enough room to work and to spread pieces.
One puzzle - 18000 pieces
I'm one of the few attempting to do the whole puzzle at once. It just seems like cheating to not mix the bags otherwise you're not really doing an 18000 piece puzzle, you're doing 4 4500 piece puzzles. I thought it was interesting to see that there is actually a warning in the box to not mix them. I must say, it's a bit intimidating to see that huge box filled nearly to the top with pieces. I spent the first week sorting pieces into gladware containers just to get some of the pieces out of the box so I had room to move. Storage of course was a concern. The only table we have is only big enough for 1/2 of one of the panels so I've had to split is up into 8 sections. After seeing how much commerical puzzle mats are I decided to purchase 10 yrds of felt from Wal-mart for about $40 and two 10ft x 4in PVC pipes for $15. I've cut the pipes to make 4 4ft tubes and roll up two mats onto each. When working on the second section I just unroll it over the first. I started on 12/14/2006 so I'm only about a month into it. The first thing I did was to start piecing together the pieces that are part gold/part picture, what I call the sub-border. I also started assembling the border pieces around each of the globes and around the pictures on the upper left panel. This has given me a framework to build on for each of the panels. I am currently working on the lower right panel mainly because I have already collected a good many speckled pieces and it's dictinctive from the other panels. The gold border I'm saving for last. Not quite sure how thats going to go yet..
Worlds Largest Jigsaw Conquered !
Congratulations on an absolutely amazing achievement. A big well done! I am totally blown away that someone has the patient and the skill (and perhaps a little madness too :o) ) to complete a jigsaw of that many pieces.
Although I have never tried (I am a veteran of jigsaw puzzles), I have always stood away from trying this mammoth. Aside from the price and the risk that you know you may never complete it, I can't even lift the unopened box in the shop, it is so heavy!
Thanks for the photo. It has to be seen to believe!
Phil
PS You also have a beautiful baby !
World's Largest Jigsaw Puzzle
Oh,I am very envious of you who have already finished the largest historic map puzzle. I live in the Philippines and I have already told my aunt (who resides in USA) to purchase the puzzle. My problem now is to ship the item here without having to pay for taxes. My fingers are really very itchy already to have a hold of them, mix all the 4 packs and start asembling although I don't have a very large space yet. As I read comments from this site, I feel more and more excited to get hold of it. I hope I will be able to send it here sometime soon.
I was amazed to read that someone did it for just a few months. I thought this will take years to be completed but no, it can be done in a few months time.
I CAN"T WAIT!!!
More powers to you guys!
WOW!!!
Hey Chris and Naomi...Cool stuff this is- congratulations ! i know its been a long time now since you guys have accoplished this but i just got to read this now... I have only tried a couple of these puzzles and -currently working on 1000 piece-"rockefeller workers having lunch on a steel beam" - the picture is all shades of grey/black and white am finding it a little difficult.. reading this article of yours have inspired me no end.. way to go...
Cheers
Sona from India
how many pieces?
Just out of curiosity, for the 18,000 piece puzzle, how many pieces across and how many pieces up is it? Congrats to all you who have done it, I am still trying to decide if I could ever commit to it, but it's extremely tempting.
Puzzles 18000+
Hi Chris, hi Naomi,
It is so great you did finish 18000+ puzzle picture. Well done.
My family (me, Olga and Dasha 11 yo) just completed another big one from Revensburger in Australia: Tropical Impressions. It was about 10 months enjoyable work and we are lucky to have a big wall in our house to put it on. We have selected and bought some special furniture to suit the picture style. We are making a frame to hang the puzzle to the wall. It is promissing to be a hard project itself. You may wonder how I tackle that in a month time.
I wish you to have your house where you can do what you want.
have a good time
Andrei
Puzzle - jungle
REALLY having trouble with the border. I am doing the lower left quarter of the jungle puzzle. Finished the main body in about 3 months but am struggling with the border. So many pieces that will fit in multiple holes. I have decided that it must be worked from the inside out? Or maybe from the corner? Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Another question for anyone who has done more than one section - I would assume that each section was cut out with the same pattern, meaning that one finished section could be used as a "pattern" for the other section.....is this correct?
I would be happy to provide my email to anyone wanting to share, or complain together!
Dick
These people might help
Dear Dick,
I haven't done this puzzle. But I know that the man that runs our local puzzle shop has because it is hanging on his store's ceiling!!!
He's a very friendly chap so I think he would answer any questions you might have if you are still struggling with this.
His website is www.just4fun.co.nz
Best Regards, Janet
Congratulations
Hello, first of all i want to congratulate you for finishing the puzzle, i know its a huge amount of work you have to put into it. I bought the 18,000 4 olda map puzzle in Oct 2006, but since i am in collegue i do not have the puzzle with me. I am from mexico, studying in Monterrey, but the puzzle is in my house a couple hours from here in a special room where only 3 people have acces to it, me, my mom and my grandma lol. I started it on December 2006 and worked in it for about 14 days, aprox 8 hours a day, the i left it and again in springbreak y continued for another 4 days, aprrx 6 hours a day, and i am about to finish the bottom right map, the one with lots of dots which i thought as the easiest one. I still as you have mentioned haved tried te gold edge, im going to leave it for last, anyways, just for you to know.
PD. I will probably travel to germany next year to study there for 1 complete year and definitely wont take the puzzle with me, so im hoping that in a couple years from now on the task will be completed.
re 18000 piece ravensburger
hi chris and naomi and other puzzlers, after reading your comments with interest i'd like to offer a couple of observations that could be of help (especially to people struggling with the border.) I've noticed that the puzzle repeats itself both longitudinally and laterally every so many pieces ( i think from memory about every 31 across and 28 or 30 up and down ) so once you have completed an area you can use that spot as a reference and know what shaped piece to look for. Believe me it speeds up the puzzle enormously. I completed 'tropical impressions' in about 4 months. A 12000 piece puzzle i did a few years ago the pieces were diagonally the same. Is it cheating? I like to think not. I am looking forward to ravensburger's 18000 piecs 'skylines of the world', Yours Mike.
Worlds Largest Puzzle
Hi there. My brother (Royce McClure) is the artist behind the latest "World's Largest
jigsaw Puzzle" 24,000 pieces! I have just created a website for it here:
http://www.worldslargestpuzzle.com
You can read the story of its creation and view it close-up on my website.
(It has been professionally produced for us by Educa Boris.) Anyone up for the
challenge? Please let me know .. I would love to include your time and story on my
site.
Cheers, John McClure
Congratulations
Hi. I just finished this puzzle (started Jan 2007, finished May 13 with a month break in the middle), but haven't assembled the four sections yet. I don't have room for it on any of my walls and will need to dispose of it soon after I put the four sections together. Has anyone successfully sold a completed puzzle that is this large on Ebay? It seems like it would a pretty impressive thing to display....somewhere.
Until I found this site I wasn't able to find a list of people that have completed it. Thank you for hosting such an interesting site--and letting me see what it looks like in one piece!
woo hoo! 24000!
my 24k puzzle arrived last friday! woo hoo! it is beautiful - such vivid vibrant colors. i opened & mixed all the bags saturday morning & have been sorting since then. got some 6 gallon plastic boxes at walmart for 99 cents each - logistics will be interesting! I am not interested in speed - for me the journey is the experience - why rush! anyone else out there working on this one?
We'd love to hear from you
Debby, we would love to learn about your progress on the Life 24,000 piece puzzle.
Do visit our Hall of Fame pages to see those who have completed it so far. We'd love to put your name up there with them!
Best Regards, Janet
24,000 Life Puzzle Completed!
Hello,
Just found your site and enjoyed reading all the comments. My wife and I completed the Life 24,000 piece puzzle on June 16th, 2007. It took us 34 days. It was an awesome experience! You can check out our website at http://www.aegroup.com/puzzle to see tons of pictures and techniques we used to put it together. You should also checkout the http://www.worldslargestpuzzle.com website for lots of background info on the puzzle and their Hall of Fame challenge.
Cheating
Congratulation, But...
I went on your web site... you cheat !!!
It's really stange to make a puzzle like that...
And, you can't see well the differents colours,... no?
I think you should be disqualified...
The puzzle "Life" look wonderful. I going to buy it soon
Bye
Not Cheating!
In what way did we cheat? I don't recall ever seeing or reading any rules to puzzle building. As far as I'm concerned you can do anything and everything you want or need to put a puzzle together.
Building the next section on top of a previous section does make it difficult to visually see what you are building when you are looking at it from a distance. It's not as bad as the pictures make it seem. It's actually quite easy.
You are absolutely right,
You are absolutely right, there are no rules to puzzle building. For me, each puzzle is an experience all on its own. I have 6 kids, If I were to do a giant puzzle project with them I would go about it much differently than if I were doing it by myself. I think what you did was awesome!!
13200 Old map
Hi, congratulations on that puzzle, its looks really cool. I'm currently building the 13200 pieces old map, mixing all the pieces together. Its really fun to build, taking a while but fun :)
Well done on the life puzzle scott, but you have to admit that knowing what shape your looking for isn't really what puzzles are all about... :)
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