jigsaw puzzle

noun

Also called picture puzzle. a set of irregularly cut pieces of pasteboard, wood, or the like that form a picture or design when fitted together.
any complex, confusing situation, condition, or item, as one composed of seemingly diverse or unrelated elements.

jigsaw puzzle

a puzzle in which the player has to reassemble a picture that has been mounted on a wooden or cardboard base and cut into a large number of irregularly shaped interlocking pieces

First recorded in 1905–10

When he looks at the neatly compiled jigsaw puzzle of his life, however, he feels empty, deeply dissatisfied.

Every scene fits together like a jigsaw puzzle piece by the end of the book, when the reader finally knows everything.

To be fair, Prince Charles is also brazenly cashing in, selling a jigsaw puzzle of William and Kate at his official store.

Close up, it was a tremendous jigsaw puzzle of blocks that weighed tons.

It looked like some sort of jigsaw puzzle that he was piecing together very carefully, very— what's the word?

"He'll be glad to know I'm not showing it about, or brooding over it like a bit of a jigsaw puzzle," I thought.

Like a vast jigsaw puzzle in five dimensions, little clots and patches formed as the bits were snuggled into place here and there.

Like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, the whole picture suddenly fell into place.

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