New York Jigsaw Puzzles
Eight pictures of New York City, from the Manhattan skyline at dusk to a quiet West Village street in the afternoon. Each one is free to play in your browser, and you pick the size, anywhere from 4 pieces up to 1000.
All New York puzzles
Which New York puzzle is the easiest?
Yellow Cabs on a Rainy Avenue is the friendliest start. The yellow cars and wet pavement are the brightest parts of the picture, so they come together fast. Reflections stretch the lights into broken vertical marks, and the trick is to match each glow to the street under it rather than to another cab.
Central Park in Autumn comes a close second. Follow the path from the foreground up into the red and gold trees, and keep the lake as a cooler group beside the bank.
How do the skyline and park scenes compare?
Skylines take the longest and the parks are the most relaxed. City views are packed with small windows and rooftops, while park scenes have big blocks of snow, leaves and water. The table shows where to begin on five of them and what to hold back.
| Puzzle | Start with | Leave for last |
|---|---|---|
| Manhattan Skyline at Dusk | The river reflection, then the tallest silhouettes | The purple sky |
| Brooklyn Bridge at Sunrise | The towers and the deck | The river below |
| Rooftop Water Towers | The round wooden towers with their slats | The soft blue skyline behind |
| Snow in Central Park | The curve of Bow Bridge | The open snow |
| Grand Central Main Hall | The arched windows and the clock | Railings and floor reflections |
Snow in Central Park is the calmest of the five, but its winter light carries several blue and gray tones. Sort the metalwork, the pond reflections and the bare branches into their own groups before you touch the pale ground. The bridge and the tree line then show you exactly where the snow ends.
Which ones are worth doing at 1000 pieces?
Grand Central and Brownstones in the West Village hold up best at the top sizes. The hall has wide sections of ceiling and stonework, with warm light leaving gold patches across the room. On the brownstone street the facades repeat, but every stoop and window gives you a small landmark of its own.
Do the nearest doorway and the tree trunks first on that one. The flower pots at street level break up the brick and pavement, which would otherwise blur into one brown stretch. See our 1000-piece puzzles for more long projects.
How many pieces for a first New York puzzle?
Start at 104 or 150 pieces. A board of 104 takes most people about 20 minutes, and at that size the cabs, the bridge towers and the water towers are big enough to spot straight away. Move up to 300 once the skyline windows stop looking like noise.
Other cities around the world are waiting in the Cities category, and if you would like the whole country in one picture, try the USA map puzzle.