Community News

Washington County public defender a real piece of work with Jigsaw puzzles

MARIETTA -- Ray Smith has boundaries of recreational sanity he won't cross. Jigsaw puzzles with 60,000 pieces for one.

"That's just insane," Smith said while looking at the 42,000-piece puzzle of world landmarks that took him seven months to complete.

The puzzle is displayed on the floor at the entrance of the Marietta Municipal Court. It's so big it looks like a decorative rug.

The puzzle is at the Municipal Court because Smith is Washington County's senior assistant public defender and he "knows people" in the building, namely Municipal Court Judge Janet Dyar Welch.

Welch discovered Smith's big-puzzle hobby several years ago and suggested he use the space.

"I didn't know that was an option," he said. "But her letting me do that is absolutely fabulous."

He has displayed a couple of 40,000-piece Disney puzzles at the court, one with various Disney movie scenes and one of "Mickey Mouse Through the Years."

But it hasn't all been smooth sailing.

"The first one I did, they swept it, they thought it was a rug," Smith said. "They sucked up pieces from it."

He assembles the puzzles at home in seven sections. He works with a bag for each section, then puts them together.

"There are people who mix up the pieces from all seven bags," he said. "That's utter insanity, too."

So, what's really the difference between Smith being "sane" with 42,000 pieces and someone else going over the edge with 60,000?

It's a matter of perspective, he said.

The seven bags with 6,000 pieces are a challenge, but manageable, Smith said. The pieces in one bag all go in the same part of the puzzle.

And he knows The Secret. A certain shaped piece repeats itself in a pattern, he said.

He gets down on his knees and counts, to prove his point. In his current work, "Around the World," that special piece is every 37 pieces across and 28 pieces up.

But don't most puzzle pieces basically look alike?

"Some of the cheaper puzzles, maybe. But not these Educas (the brand name)," he said.

Smith figures he spent about $600 for the puzzle, which he assembles in his basement, blocked off from the dogs.

Casper, a beloved Bichon Frise named Casper who is now interred ashes, was largely responsible for eating about 11 pieces out of each section of his earlier 24,000-piece puzzle. He now has two golden retrievers "and they'll eat anything," Smith said.

The current work of world landmarks presented additional anguish, Smith said.

"Mt. Rushmore and the Pyramids, they were pretty difficult. The tan color drove me nuts. I don't have any trouble with blue sky pieces, but the tan…," he said.

Smith finds the gargantuan puzzles to be relaxing.

Mary Beth, his wife, is supportive. For example, she helped him put the contact paper on the back of "Around the World" so the pieces would be more likely to stay in place.

"She reinforces the behavior," Smith said.

Nancy Taylor can be reached at ntaylor@newsandsentinel.com