New Jag in Jigsaws

Traditionally the jigsaw puzzle depicted placid pastoral scenes. By comparing picture with puzzle, puzzlers could assemble pieces by color or line, put the whole thing together in jig time. Easier to win at than solitaire and less demanding than a novel, it was a relaxing remedy for rainy afternoons and hospital confinements. But that was before Springbok Editions sprung its pasteboard version of Jackson Pollock's "Convergence."

An orgy of thin red lines, blue smudges and black and white blobs, the abstraction lived up to its billing as the "world's hardest jigsaw puzzle." There were colors all right, but where did they go? Handsomely packaged with a glossy reproduction of the painting and priced at $3.50, the puzzle has found its way into more than 100,000 homes.

Sensing a new jag in the jigsaw trend, Springbok has become even more esoteric, is pushing circular puzzles (no straight edges to assemble for frame) in solid colors. Upon opening "Little Red Riding Hood's Hood," the puzzlephile sees nothing but red--506 pieces of it. Or if he prefers white or brown, he can work at two vicious circles teasingly entitled "Snow White Without the Seven Dwarfs" and "CloseUp of the Three Bears." For those overburdened with leisure time, the thrill in working out such finger exercises is the assurance that no deadlier way to kill time has yet been discovered.

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