Whether you’re totally new to puzzling or you are an avid puzzler looking for a new challenge, hand-cut wooden puzzles present an incredible new world to dive into. But, like any new hobby, there is much to learn. Whether you're interested in renting a puzzle or buying your first custom handcrafted wooden puzzle, here are some key terms and explanations.
Puzzle Types
Clicking or tapping on the Shop tab will present you with the option of “Made to Order” or “Ready to Ship” puzzles. A “Made to Order” puzzle from Elms allows for the ultimate customization — from personalized artwork that you can upload yourself, to border designs and special trick piece options. You can even choose your preferred artisan if you’d like. But be sure to plan accordingly, made to order puzzles come with a 4-6 week lead time. On the other hand, “Ready to Ship” puzzles are already cut, boxed, and can ship immediately. While you lose the customization options, “Ready to Ship” are perfect if you want your puzzle as soon as possible or you’re purchasing a gift. Within the “Ready to Ship” category, we have a few different types of puzzles:
Precut Puzzles
These are brand new handcrafted puzzles. We release new Precut Puzzles every month or so.
Vintage E.L.M.S. Puzzles
Our company has had quite the history. We were founded as E.L.M.S in 1987, rebranded as The Waterford Puzzle Company in 2018, and returned as Elms Puzzles in 2023. Vintage E.L.M.S. Puzzles are from the original E.L.M.S period from 1987-2018. They all come from personal collections and have been inspected, authenticated, and, when necessary, repaired.
Retired Puzzles
A few times a year, we select a group of puzzles from our rental library to be “Retired” and put them on sale at a discounted price. Some have been rented and assembled a few times through our rental program, and some are brand new. You can read more about Retired Puzzles here.
Art and Images
Whether you’re looking for inspiration or already have an image in mind, we provide many different ways to sort, filter, and search for the best image for your new Made to Order Puzzle. If you’re interested in a fully custom puzzle, you can upload your image in the “Use your own image” section (and you can always ask for help through the “Live chat” tool at the bottom right of your screen).
Size
Once you have found the artwork you want, you can select the number of pieces you’d like to tackle. At this point it is important to keep your workspace in mind—while 100-piece puzzles are around 7 inches x 7 inches, 600-piece puzzles can push 18 inches in length and width, which doesn’t count the space you’ll need to sort and hunt through your puzzle pieces! In general, you’ll want double the size of your puzzle for a total work space. Also keep in mind that hand-cut puzzles, with their unique shapes and tricks, are considerably more difficult than cardboard puzzles.
Border Style
Borders are the edges of your puzzle. "Regular" edges are straight-edged rectangles while "Irregular" edges have a design cut into them and are not straight. This adds to the puzzle's difficulty and visual interest. These tricks or designs are typically at the whim of the puzzle artisan, but some specific requests can be accommodated. If you have an idea for a fun border, let us know!
Cutting Tricks
Cutting tricks can include false edges, trick corners, color line cutting or more. If you’re interested, we have a full puzzle glossary here. To keep things interesting, specific executions are up to the artisan, but you can ramp up the difficulty of your puzzle by selecting “Many tricks!”
Renting a Hand-Cut Wooden Puzzle
Elms crafts heirloom-quality puzzles meant to last multiple lifetimes—but not everyone has a lifetime of storage space! If you’re just getting started with hand-cut wooden puzzles or low on shelving, renting can be a great way to dip your toes into this satisfying family pastime.
We have hundreds of handcrafted puzzles in our Rental Library, with new art and designs updated seasonally. That means that you can get a fresh experience and a broad range of challenges every six weeks. And because renting a hand-cut puzzle is less costly than buying, you can try several different styles and puzzle cutters to better understand your own preferences before swinging for your very own custom puzzle.
Renting a puzzle is as straightforward as filtering by your desired size, artwork, and/or puzzle artisan. The clock starts on your six week rental as soon as you purchase, but is considered “returned” as soon as the pre-paid return slip is scanned by your carrier. There are some specific instructions for returns, which can be found here. Lost a piece? Did a pet get to the corner section before you? It happens. Follow the instructions here, and we can make it right before that puzzle heads off to its next puzzler.
Lastly, puzzles make incredible gifts for the family member or loved one that has everything (including a chunk of time). Consider gifting a rental by purchasing a gift card here.