Meet Puzzler Rell

What is your name?

My name is Narelle but most people call me Rell or Relli.

Where do you live?

I live in Adelaide, South Australia.  

How did you start your puzzle journey?

I started puzzling around October of 2020. My daughter has Tourette Syndrome and she started showing signs of the neurological disorder in the middle of 2020. By October of that year, we were under the care of a neurologist as her symptoms were quite bad. The neurologist suggested we try an activity to distract my daughter’s brain to try and give her temporary relief from her tics. We decided to try working on a jigsaw puzzle to see if that would help. It did work for a very short time but once it stopped working, she lost interest in puzzling but I was addicted.

Do you have a favourite piece count?

I definitely love a 1000 piece puzzle. I feel like I get a lot of value for money with that piece count and they are my most purchased size. I have started to learn to appreciate smaller piece counts though. Sometimes a nice 500 or even 300 piece is almost like a palette cleanser!

What is your preferred piece cut? Random or ribbon & why?

I don’t do a lot of them but random piece cuts are my favourite. I find random cut pieces to be so much fun and I like the additional challenge they bring.

What is are your favourite puzzle brands?

Tania Wicks of course! I also adore Reverie Puzzles and in mainstream brands, Ravensburger and Ceaco are at the top of my list.

What is your favourite TW puzzle?

I have to go with the original Le Macaron. That was my first ever Tania Wicks Puzzle and introduction to the brand. I love the beautiful colours in that puzzle and food is one of my favourite subjects. I get a kick out of challenging puzzles too and Le Macaron was no walk in the park!

If you could meet anyone in the puzzle community who would that be and why?

Oh, there’s so many people. I love the puzzle community so much and I’ve made such amazing friends that I chat with multiple times a week. In Australia, I’m going to choose Tania herself. We’ve become really great friends and support each other with puzzle related and non-puzzle related things. I’m so grateful to have crossed paths with her. Internationally, Marilyn aka The Puzzling Foodie on Instagram. We are close. We talk about everything and I would give just about anything to be able to spend even a few hours with her in person. Fingers crossed I get to meet and hug both at some stage in the future.

What else do you enjoy other than puzzling?

Spending time with my family of course is number one. I love video gaming and I’ll play something on my Nintendo Switch just about every day. I’m a very easy going person so even just going out for a drive to get ice cream near the beach is something I really enjoy doing. I try to find enjoyment in most things where I can.

What is your puzzling strategy… for example do you do border first, are you a sorter?

With 1000 pieces or above, I attempt to sort. I get 1/2 to 3/4 of the way through sorting, then the rest of the pieces get put in the “can’t be bothered anymore” pile. I almost always build the edges first but I try not to get too hung up on it if I can’t get it together. Puzzles below 1000 pieces, I tend to just spread all of the pieces face up and pick and choose what I need. I’ll still try to put the edges together first though!

Do you have any tips for challenging puzzles?

Always remember there is a solution! Try to find the obvious details in the puzzle image and work on building that first. I call those anchor points. Try to build as many anchor points as you can and eventually you’ll be able to start filling the spaces in between. The edges make a very good base to work from too!

Do you have a favourite puzzle theme?

Food, dogs and whimsical illustrations are my favourite themes. I really love repeating patterns and lines are my absolute favourite thing to piece together in a puzzle.

What’s your favourite type of puzzle, eg wooden, rectangular, circular?

I quite enjoy a wooden puzzle. I like how they are different to put together than a traditional cardboard puzzle. I also really enjoy the smell of a wooden puzzle and of course whimsies are always fun to see.

How many puzzles in your collection?

I honestly don’t know but I’ll estimate around 130. I’m almost afraid to count actually. I’ll just say I have a really good range to choose from. My mum is also a puzzler so she’ll complete puzzles after I have. We joke that she comes to my house to choose puzzles from the puzzle shop.

How many puzzles in your to do pile?

It’s a lot and pretty much continuously grows larger. I know I’ve still got puzzles from early 2021 that I still haven’t been able to get to. It’s a nice problem to have!

We are delighted to have Rell on board as one of our Australian Brand Ambassadors!