Interest in Puzzles Soars, Along With Sales

"As we get older, I think we become very realistic about the things we do and don't want to accomplish,” West says. “And doing a puzzle, it's just perfectly fine as an accomplishment. I don't need to conquer the world or run a marathon or whatever. But it's good to still have some goals that make you feel whole."

For 50-year-old Missie Sabo, puzzling is a treat after working in sales all day and her new task of helping her 12-year-old do school from home.

"It's my chill time after working all day,” she says. “It's something I look forward to."

And in Georgia, 71-year-old Donna Crisp says puzzles are “good therapy.” She does them while she sits with her 40-year-old son, Benjamin, who has severe autism. They can have quiet time together, and she can do something that challenges her mind.

"It's a way of getting perspective and calm,” she says.

A fix for strange times

Courtesy of Donna Crisp

Chris Byrne, a toy industry expert in New York known as the Toy Guy, says that puzzles have always appealed to seniors but that they can be a fun, noncompetitive activity for the whole family.

"I think like anything that's become a fad, it will plateau,” he says. “But we may in fact bring more people into puzzling as an activity."

In Colorado, Richard McCusker has nostalgic memories of his family doing wooden puzzles by the fireplace on stormy nights more than 60 years ago.

"In today's age, everybody's always on their smartphone. You're always texting or looking up news,” he says. “And that was one of the reasons I got back into puzzling."

McCusker, a retired contractor, likes the feeling he gets after putting a puzzle together, almost the same feeling he had finishing a house or deck and admiring his work.

For Carol Rice, who is in her 80s and lives outside Chicago, isolation has left her a little out of sorts and in need of a distraction she can walk away from without getting frustrated.

For her, a good puzzle is about finding an image you can get lost in. She likes unusually shaped pieces and concentrations of color.

"Working a puzzle has enough diversion and absorption, without the kind of commitment that reading a book would have,” she says. “I think that's part of the charm of it."

Good for the brain

Courtesy of Rhonda Camen

Monique Gingold, 66, a retired pediatric neurologist in California, took to jigsaw puzzles as a stress reliever and has kept at it because she likes what it does for her mind. She says this time of coronavirus has turned her into something of a puzzle addict.

"When you're working on a puzzle, you can't worry about anything else,” she says. “You can't let other thoughts intrude. It's almost like meditation for me."

As a physician who knows something about the brain, Gingold likes what working on puzzles does for her cognitive skills, memory and ability to focus.

During this tumultuous time, puzzling can bring a sense or peace, she says. “It's become my N95 mask to keep the coronavirus thoughts out of my mind."

Even after this is all over, she says, the enduring lure of puzzles is that they'll always be an escape.

Some puzzling options

• 3D puzzles, such as the New York City skyline, are among Amazon.com's top-selling puzzles.
• Mystery puzzles come with no image on the box (like those from Artifact Puzzles).
• Lots of pieces can be an extra challenge. While 300- and 1,000-piece puzzles are the most popular, the world's largest jigsaw puzzles incude Educa's 42,000-piece “Around the World” design.
• Sized for seniors puzzles are available from manufacturers such as Ravensburger, which makes 300 large-piece jigsaw puzzles for adults.
• Irregular puzzle pieces are a specialty of Wentworth Wooden Puzzles, which offers irregular, hand-drawn pieces.
• Making your own is another way to go. Whether you want a personalized photo, something artsy or something DIY, the internet can get you there.