LOST is an extremely puzzling show, so it makes perfect sense to create four perplexing jigsaw puzzles to complement what we see on television. In January, I toiled over the third installment in the series of four 1000-piece puzzles, which focused on the mysterious numbers: 4 8 15 16 23 42. While it took several days for me to complete it, with help from my friend and my parents, at least there was a clearly discernible pattern, though I didn't pick up on it right away. You see, the puzzles are made even more tricky because the box shows only a small segment of the finished picture, so I didn't know going into it that I had to arrange the puzzle so that a giant 4, 8 and 15 would be on the top and 16, 23 and 42 be in the bottom, and I didn't realize that within each of these extra-large numbers I would find multiple repetitions of that same number. Once I figured that out, the task became considerably more manageable.

Last month, I decided to tackle the second puzzle, which focuses on the Others, those mysterious island dwellers who plague the castaways of Flight 815. While the third season deals more intensively with the Others than the first two do, this puzzle came out prior to that season, so don't expect to catch a glimpse of Juliet, Richard, Mikhail or anyone else introduced in season three. The big red question mark from the map on the hatch blast doors rests roughly in the middle of the puzzle, but there's little rhyme or reason beyond that; postcard-like snapshots extend from the center, connected by golden, spidery threads, but there's no clear way to determine where they ought to go.

On the one hand, this makes it easy to assemble little bits of the puzzle at a time, since each picture is self-contained and usually encompasses between 4 and 20 pieces; on the other, it's pretty difficult to orient them correctly, especially with all the random leafy greenness between pictures. It was partly for this reason that when my friend and I tried putting it together at her house, we failed. Without the puzzle board my mom got me for Christmas a few years back, complete with protective foam covering, I doubt it would have worked at my house either, especially since my cats kept threatening to sit on it...

The puzzle box promises exclusive content, but the puzzle itself doesn't really deliver. While it is very cool-looking when finished, it just offers a lot of pictures we've already scene, and often from a somewhat skewed perspective so it's hard to tell what's going on. We see plenty of Ben (or Henry, as he was known in season two), Tom ("Mr. Friendly" up until the season finale) and Ethan; Bea, Danny, Alex and others show up too, as do various castaways. Additionally, at the bottom of the puzzle there's the ominous statue of a four-toed foot and the PALA FERRY sign. This is all very nice, but if you're looking for unique insight into the show, you'll have to spring for some puzzle glue and cover first the front and then the back. Then, get ahold of a black light and shine it over the back, and you'll be able to read the chicken scratch written in pale yellow ink. While I didn't find any of the notes or diagrams particularly illuminating, they could make more sense when viewed in conjunction with the other four puzzles, since the four together show a complete version of a map of the island.

I still have yet to attempt The Hatch, which I own, and Before the Crash, which I haven't seen for sale in stores, but The Others is considerably more frustrating than The Numbers - though by the same token, there's an even greater sense of satisfaction when it is finished. Serious LOST fans who enjoy putting together puzzles will get a kick out of it, especially if they find the Others considerably intriguing; they should just be prepared for a rather lengthy time commitment...

Pilot Epiosde
Season One
Season Two

Secret Identity
Signs of Life

Charlie figure
Locke figure
Hurley figure
Hatch Boxed Set
Mystery of the Island Jigsaw Puzzle (The Numbers)

LOST Parodies:
Bohemian Rhapsody
I Am a Rock
White Christmas
Christmas Canon Rock
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Christmas in Killarney
Henry the Eighth
Sweet Baby James
The Only Living Boy in New York
Here, There and Everywhere
He Was My Brother
For Baby (For Bobbie)
Sloop John B.
When I'm 64
The Longest Time
Run for the Roses
You Don't Bring Me Flowers Anymore
Eye of the Tiger
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Leader of the Band
Same Old Lang Syne
Cat's in the Cradle
An Innocent Man
The Boxer
Sparrow
Loves Me Like a Rock
Der Fuehrer's Face
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Candle in the Wind
Scarborough Fair / Canticle

Hey Jude
Tears in Heaven
Bridge Over Troubled Water
House of the Rising Sun
Lover's Cross
Lasso the Moon
Rocket Man
El Condor Pasa
Hair
Why Don't You Write Me?
The Greening of Belfast
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

Poems:
Baby Brother
The Pilot in the Pilot
Vincent
Of Sacrificial Death and Life
John the Baptized
Not Penny's Boat
Finding Vincent
I'm Lost Without...

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 12.99
Type of Toy: Puzzle