Global Puzzle

I remember — or at least, I think I do — back when I was little, and I had a puzzle with each state representing a piece.

Until yesterday I'd never given a thought to why there wasn't one with countries as pieces, encompassing the the whole world.

The reason, I guess, is that I'm like most people, and most people don't wonder about it.

In yesterday's Financial Times was an interesting article by Andrew Ward about Roger Andresen, who did wonder about it.

He got the idea, the article stated, after he read a survey about how little Americans knew about other countries.

He remembered that he'd had a wooden puzzle of the U.S. when he was a boy, and that he'd learned the states with it.

He then investigated whether or not a global version existed, and concluded there was no such thing in the U.S.

One thing led to another and he created his first Global Puzzle about three years ago.

Andresen, who had a background in mechanical engineering, quit his job with Nortel Networks, ordered 10,000 puzzles and set out to market them.

He noted that "first two years were difficult and slow. It took six months to sell the first 10,000. Now we're selling 10,000 puzzles a month."

You can buy one here for $14.95.

The puzzle (above) contains 600 pieces, measures 36" x 18" when completed and is suitable for those 8 and over.

The company also offers a variety of other geography–themed puzzles, including the Global Animal Puzzle (below),

which takes the Global Puzzle as its base and adds "100 exotic animals located in their indigenous regions all across the globe!"