Today I learned that a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle isn’t necessarily 1000 pieces exactly. It’s likely closer to 1030 or so.

I ordered a copy of one of Brent’s favorite childhood puzzles for us to put together and I wanted to make sure all the pieces were there since we’re talking about a 47-year-old jigsaw puzzle so I counted all the pieces and was surprised that there are actually 1036 in this one.

Did a little Internet sleuthing and it turns out that puzzle piece counts aren’t 100% accurate.

So hooray for learning new facts and hooray for managing to get a good deal on a complete puzzle that’s gonna be a lot of fun to put together!

@izzyamar Huh. Makes sense, but I had somehow always assumed the number on the box was _exactly_ the number of pieces.
@IrrationalMethod that was my assumption, too! What reason would we have to not believe the number on the box? But apparently the number is a lie!
@izzyamar I feel so low-stakes betrayed about it! 😅@IrrationalMethod

@izzyamar

SPF is a lie too, at least in the US. It's only based on UVB protection, even though UVA carries the higher cancer risk. Additionally, to get the amount of protection promised on the label even for UVB, you have to use a full ounce of sunscreen for an adult.

Given the implications of that, I guess puzzle makers are allowed to tell fibs!

https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/healthy-tips/quick-dose-how-much-spf-do-you-really-need

What Do the SPF Numbers Mean?

What to know about sun protection factor (SPF) numbers to reduce your risk of skin cancer and protect yourself from sun rays.

Northwestern Medicine

But now you don’t know if you have all the pieces because what if the literal number was even more?

@izzyamar

@izzyamar

I know of a way to make it exactly 1000 pieces but the process includes losing 36 pieces of the puzzle.
@izzyamar no, no, no, NO! It says a 1,000. I can’t handle this today.