Happy National Puzzle Day! I was a little hot and cold on today's puzzle (lol sorry), but I hope you enjoy all of my experimentation anyway 😅 Also, yesterday was the St Paul Winter Carnival Puzzle Competition, so stay tuned for a video all about that in two weeks!
Ooooohhh science question, YAY: so, color change technology works works by altering the crystalline structure of the paint/dye. Think of it simplistically as when it's cold the crystals are all leaning one way and when you heat them up they roll over in a sense. As the paint/dye ages the crystals get more and more sluggish to roll over, as it were. Your hands probably could've turned the puzzle when it was brand new. And to answer your questions, yes, they' could've had a simplistic design. They probably didn't because then it would have been easily solvable. My biggest gripe with this particular is actually the piece quality. They knew people would be moving these pieces around a LOT. They should've increased the piece stability accordingly. Well, I hope that answered your questions a little bit! Glad you stuck it out. Can't wait for the Ice show episode! I left Minneapolis around 15 years ago, and while I don't miss the cold I do miss the Ice show sometimes.
Dude, I would not have put up with that puzzle. At one point, I thought that you were going to declare it not worth it, but half of the video was still left, so I knew that you figured out something. Not only the hair dryer, but another tool that I won’t spoil for those that haven’t finished the video yet. This puzzle was certainly a test in perseverance!
i would have given up right at the start ^^ i have a hair dryer but no diffuser & i don´t have a lightbox or a glass table where i could put a lightsource under ^^
off topic (kinda) but i really recommend a hair dryer! its great for styling both long and short hair. unless ur bald, then the only real use you can get of it is solving a thermal puzzle
That slowmo of the puzzles turning hot pink is actually satisfying. Also I love how clever Karen can be outside of puzzles and games. The frozen vegetable bag, heating bag/pad and hair dryer plus diffuser are smart solutions. Crazy that all those items mentioned were used for a puzzle lmao
I'm guessing they used leuco dyes instead of liquid crystals, because that would allow them to create the gradient; they consist of molecules that switch between colorless (the hot state) and opaque (the cold state), which are made into microcapsules with the necessary reactants to facilitate the molecular state change. Essentially, with the right temperature and the right stuff around it, the molecule changes shape and either becomes opaque in a specific color (depending on the molecule) or transparent. Because the microcapsules are much larger than ordinary dye particles, there are some challenges to both durability and manufacturing, depending on the form factor, which is a somewhat technical way to say that putting it on paper makes it not last as long.
Also it means whatever gradient they put under it could have easily been a picture. It's like those heat reveal mugs. It doesn't work like a mood ring that seems certain. To be fair she might have cold hands in a relatively cool room but it still seems like false advertising if you have to have hot hands in the summer for it to change the way they say it will, and even then I don't know if anyone's hands are that hot.
I've seen thermochromic pigments for sale that turn colorless at 25 C and the other was like 31 C, which seems around the temperature that was being advertised. I feel like a lot of people have cold hands that would prevent this from working as it was intended 😬 I don't think the under color was different enough to justify those terrible false fits eeeek
My guess is that when the puzzle is very fresh your body heat would actually work, but the longer it's been sitting, the more heat you need to activate it. The reason I'm guessing this is actually because when I was in elementary school, after we had the whole fire safety talk, they would give out heat activated color changing pencils, that actually did work with your hand, and I would guess this puzzle uses a similar technology.
My limited spot research says that cheaper thermochromic inks are notoriously hard to calibrate to specific temperatures, so it seems likely that this puzzle just got a purple/transparent ink with a higher than planned activation temperature. That also answers the pattern question - with the temperature-sensitive element switching between a dark colour and transparency, you could mix it with whatever other colours you wanted giving an ink that switched between the other colour and whatever dark hue you get combining the other colour with the dark colour. With a wider range of "hot" colours for the puzzle, you'd probably get more visible variation in the "cold" colour, but it would still be reasonably subtle.
I'm sure you're the only one who approached this puzzle with such dedication 😁 It's obvious that this puzzle was produced with this color-changing gimmick in mind as the most important aspect, not the actual solvability.
Whoa. 😳 Thanks for taking one for the team. It’s safe to say I shan’t be purchasing this puzzle to solve. I don’t have a diffuser for my HAIRDRYER, so I’d be chasing pieces all over the place. 😂 I wonder how well a heating pad/throw/blanket would have worked under your foam board? Great video, as always!
I wonder if heating up some plates wouldve worked. Then putting the pieces onto the plate and maybe covering it with one warm plate to preserve the heat. Anything else I can think of is a fire hazard possibly. I wouldn't have been able to finish it either way 🧩
@@Atalinay I like your idea!! I doubt it would work though, it looks as if the pieces needed direct hear on top of the "image", so unless the pieces would be upside down on a hot plate, I don't think the heat would have gotten through the pieces
The hair dryer and lightbox was such a great idea. If you didn't need 5 hours and a lightbox to solve it then you could've done the puzzle in a sauna! Then you'd be able to write off a spa day as a video expense lol!
Wow wow wow I'm so impressed that you managed to power through and finish it. Your creative solutions and the beautiful shots of the pieces warming up made this video a favorite, so thank you!
There is no way I would have been able to stick this out! The number of things it needs is mind boggling. I loved how you used so many different ideas to get through the puzzle.
I definitely wouldn't have finished that! Maybe it would have been doable when it was brand new, but still. I think a much more fun idea would be to have a puzzle with very unique, fun piece shapes that you could solve as a solid-color puzzle. Then when you're done, you could reveal the "secret image" with a hair dryer (this is assuming you could make an image more interesting than a gradient). The bonus to this approach is that you'd be able to use an ordinary hair dryer without the diffusion attachment (who has one of those?) and not worry about the pieces blowing away, because they'd all be attached together at that point!
Great choice of music, Karen. I'm sure it made people all over the world stand and applaud when the last piece was put in. Thanks for the adventure in this nearby galaxy.
The patience! The tenacity! The sheer resourcefulness on display with this monster! I truly can't believe you finished this -- not because I doubt your ability (We've all seen you solve some truly hardcore jigsaw puzzles) -- but because you would have been so justified in bailing. I feel like even having something as simple as a more unique piece cut would have saved this one! Like, at least in that case you wouldn't have needed the literal lightbox. Totally commendable solve for a puzzle that truly didn't deserve you!
I was a fan of your videos, Karen, from way back when in the Nerdfighter and crafting days, and I don't know you but it still makes me really happy to see you finding so much success and joy with your puzzle videos. It warms my heart like a hair dryer!😊
I’m working on this puzzle now. I noticed that it says 300 pieces but the picture on the box shows 345 pieces. I’m wondering if the pieces match up to the picture except for the rows on the right.
As soon as I saw the pieces I had Ketchup puzzle flashbacks! I absolutely would not have finished that puzzle. It was fun to see the colors change with your magic hair dryer. Well done.
i feel like a yellow to purple gradient (or just a wider one in general) would have made this a lot easier. also adding the patterns would make near-duplicate pieces less of an issue
I found your channel last year and I've been hooked ever since. To the point that you actually got me back into jigsaw puzzles! I don't think I could've stuck this puzzle out so you're braver than I am. Also this was just what I needed today, so thank you for the laugh. Happy National Puzzle Day right back at you, Karen!
You are my hero! Such a legend for sticking with this, and that grotty experience of working through those horrible pieces will help you out with better made puzzles :-) I would have given up 1/3rd of the way through, hairdryer or no hairdryer
Karen, the pigment molecules at room temp or colder are at their most stable shape, which reflects the deep blue to purple colors. When these molecules absorb heat energy, their most stable shape changes, and reflects blue or pink. As they cool off, they lose energy and return to their original shape/orientation, which reflects that darker color. Printing on top of the pigment would only affect the color changing molecules underneath the printing, so it is possible.
But i think, in order to preserve the "countdown timer" nature of the puzzle, the pattern should be visible only in the hot state, not the cold state. Your explanation sounds to me like the pattern would be visible in both states
@@muskyoxes They could try to match the pigment of the pattern design to the deep purple of the cooled puzzle - it might be a little bit visible, but it would still be very tricky to solve without heating it up to get some nice colour contrast.
@@muskyoxes perhaps an invisible ink can be used to create a pattern. This layer could shield the color changing pigment from some of the heat, so it will change at a slower rate.
I would never have finished it! 😂 First of all, I don't have a diffuser for my hairdryer, and I have NO patience for false fits. Like, I'm not an expert at puzzling, and I very often make 2 pieces fit that have no business being in each other's businesses, haha! It was satisfying to see the final reveal gradient, though! Thank you for making it so we don't have to do it ourselves! 🤭
Happy National Puzzle Day Karen!!! 🥳 I'm glad you did this one and not me, because I don't even have a hairdryer to solve it! False fits are definitely the most frustrating kind of puzzle, it could definitely be possible to produce a more complex puzzle with this color-changing material, but it would not be easy or cheap to make, so it definitely feels like they cut a few corners here.
You have way more determination than I do because I would not have finished it. I also wouldn't have blamed you a bit for giving up. I loved watching they hairdryer change the finished puzzle. The images you produced were awesome. I want to screenshot one image for a wallpaper. Stay warm up in St. Paul!
The sponsor reminds me of how Joey Richter from starkid proposed to Lauren by doing a huge puzzle with her of the two of them and their dog and at the end (weeks of work I think since it was a black and white puzzle) he revealed the hidden pieces of the dog holding a wedding ring
You have made so many puzzlers happy. Knowing that they are not the only ones struggling to do puzzles. Doing this for us was great. I for one feel that I really don’t have to feel bad about having a hard time. I’m glad you took the time to do this woohoo❤❤
This puzzle almost made me mad... until I saw your video ! THANK YOU SO MUCH KAREN ! About 100 pieces were connected and I was blocked when I searched for help. I hair-dried my work and... discovered so many errors. Heat was the key-tip. Did you notice, at last, the shapes on the box (recto&verso) are the actual ones ? Start from the left (the "pink" corners). And drop the 3 columns on the right (côté "orange"): they don't exist, it'a trap. Greetings from France. (By the way, I suscribed your channel) Ce puzzle m'a presque rendu fou... jusqu'à ce que je voie ta vidéo ! MERCI BEAUCOUP KAREN ! Environ 100 pièces étaient connectées et j'étais bloqué lorsque j'ai cherché de l'aide sur Internet. J'ai passé mon travail au sèche-cheveux et... j'ai découvert plein d'erreurs. La chaleur était la clé. As-tu remarqué, à la fin, que les formes sur la boîte (recto&verso) sont les bonnes ? Commencez par la gauche (les coins "roses"). Et laissez tomber les 3 colonnes de droite (côté "orange") : elles n'existent pas, c'est un piège. Salutations de France. (Au passage, je me suis abonné à votre chaîne)
60 pieces an hour or 1 piece a minute and a hairdryer and light pad and the fact you got it done-made this video so much fun! I hope you kept it together and thanks for sharing this one as I know I could never get it done as quickly if at all.
Dude I wish I had you’re patience. It takes me forever to do normal puzzles with plenty of different colors and textures to look at. Props to you for finishing the puzzle. Hair dryer
I am so impressed by the perseverance and ingenuity it took for you to solve this puzzle!! And your comments about the design seem spot on. Well done!! 😀
I think it probably would have warmed up with body heat when you initially got it. I think the color changing effect weakened enough that you needed drastic temperature shifts to see an outcome and not just body temperature.
As for the technology and a possible design: There are pigments that have a solid color and turn transparent when heated. I don't know, if that's, what they used here, but maybe. The deep purple maybe a layer that is sitting on top of just a regular printed gradient, and that turns transparent to reveal the gradient underneath. With such a technology, it would of course be easy to have any kind of design underneath. But if its one layer and one pigment that makes one color AND another color, it might be more difficult.espescially if you want it to appear one uniform solid color in its unactivated state.
I was amazed at all the hurdles you overcame to solve this puzzle. Great video and wonderful editing. I was surprised at the hair dryer as a solution but I guess a heat gun would have been too hot and also lacking a diffuser, which ultimately was the game changer. The color change was fun to watch, so thanks for going through all that!
Also your editing is always really great but this video especially stood out to me. The more vlog-esque style at the beginning and all of the slow-mo with dramatic music was all great!
This was hysterical! Had so much fun watching you do this puzzle! Extra, extra kudos for figuring out the best heat source for the best results! Love your channel!
Would it have been easier with a unique puzzle cut? If they couldn't add a design. That way, you would not have to rely on your hair-dryer so much, even with a design on the puzzle. Also, I'm sure they would be able to do the design under the special colour changing film. Like they have on colour changing mugs. However I'm not sure you could do a design on the film itself.
Typically color changing objects using heat (other than fabric) are painted/printed using thermotropic liquid crystals. The design would have to be printed underneath the color changing medium, as anything other than a sealant applied on top would damage the crystals, therefore damaging the color changing effect, as the crystals 'twist' (insert technical term I don't know) at different temperatures. I also wonder if that's why it didn't change temperature from room temp compared to your hands- the way they had to top coat it or transported it may have required crystals or another substance that only reacts to higher temperatures. If you want a better explanation than mine, @EvanandKatelyn have an old video where they use these crystals to made a mood ring toilet seat :)
"When millions of Americans yell at their TVs for their favorite football teams, you are..." "...yelling at a woman to put a curl diffuser on her hairdryer to use in her jigsaw puzzle." And actuall conversation I just had with my husband this morning while watching this video 😂😂😂
The Areaware gradient puzzle is one of the few I have decided not to finish (I didn't try a light box), so... I probably would have absolutely hated this puzzle. I'm so glad that Karen did it so I don't have to!
Hate the puzzle, love the music! Great entertaining video! I don’t have a diffuser with my hair dryer, and would never attempt such a frustrating thing. But, I’m glad you did and gave us a fun video - I especially liked the hand shadow.
it does look like the design they have on the box does match the solve of the puzzle -- if you look at the final solve (~31:34) - rotated so that the top right is the bottom left - and the design, i think they do match! i would definitely lean on that if i didnt have a blow-dryer or light bix handy!
There's a 100 piece clear acrylic puzzle sold at Five Below that I picked up for fun. It has the same issue of a lot of piece options to put together. Would love to see your take on it because I don't think the light box would work since it's already clear.
Just watching this was giving me flashbacks of watching you do the Heinz puzzle. Another thanks for doing it so us much less patient puzzlers could save their sanity.
Man, I am so impressed by your patience. I'm not an expert puzzler though I have completed 5000, 6000, and 7500 piece puzzles before. I'm sure i would have thrown this one in the garbage or set it on fire out of pure frustration.....And then maybe thrown a rock through the window of the company that invented it.
You deserve a Congressional Medal of Honor or a Knighthood for doing this puzzle. I am definitely in the ‘regular people giving up’ group. I don’t even own a hairdryer. I could have used my iron, I guess. If I burned it, all the better! I don’t know the science of that paint but since both the orange and the pink cooled to the same dark color, I think they could have put an orange design in the pink and vice versa I’d love to see a video about puzzle piece cuts and what to look out for. Also, why some puzzles show the lines between the pieces and others don’t.
Heat sensitive colours like that depend a lot on the time of year. I have a colour changing notebook and during the summer when it was getting up to 40C, it got stuck on the warm colour, I had to roll a cold bottle of water over it to get it to change back for a short while. During the winter it's hard to get it to change colour.
I‘m so happy that you finished it… because the footage at the end is really beautiful. With changing the colour differently and great music in the background. So well done how you presented the solved puzzle 👍
So satisfying to watch those pieces change with the hair dryer! My friend reccomended your channel to me after I had to give up on a puzzle I got for myself for new year's. It was mostly black with pictures of butterflies on it. I tried for hours and only managed to fit two pieces together -- even trying to work on the butterflies didn't help me get anywhere. I don't think I would have been able to do this one, so I definitely commend you for your perseverence!
Thermochromism is the property of substances to change colour due to a change in temperature. Examples are the strip on a Duracell battery which indicates battery life remaining, a mood ring, colour changing coffee mugs, or the famous 1990s hypercolour t-shirts. I even think my brothers had matchbox hot wheels cars that colour changed. The two common approaches of thermochromism are based on liquid crystals and leuco dyes and for your jigsaw I would guess they used a leuco dye, which can switch between two chemical forms; one of which is colourless. So chances are one of the layers of paper is actually printed with the gradient colours on it so the solved image. And then a layer of leuco dye is onto of it, so when it’s activates by heat it turns colourless revealing the gradient orange pink you see and when it isn’t activate then it remains the original leuco dye colour, thus the purple/blue, as indigo is the most classic use of a leuco dye for papers and clothing. If this is in fact how it’s printed that the bottom layers is in fact a normal paper jigsaw and the colour changing part is the the purple blue layer then yes I’m sure they could have printed some sort of image/line art/pattern on the gradient paper even if was very slight. I think they may have felt that they may have need a thicker layer of leuco dye to hide the pattern underneath thus affecting its thermochromic ability. Also note the fact you had to use a hair drier on something that was suppose to change with body heat shows how much they didn’t trial this jigsaw design before market. As with all colour changing items I had growing up they lost their ability to change colour after a period of time or use or wash and wear or forcing the reaction back and forth. So maybe the layer on the jigsaw is now no longer as sensitive as it once was before they marketed it. I would have finished that puzzle as I’m too stubborn not too. There would have been a bunch of choice words and anger and many attempts to quit. But I would have continued with it. Would hate to know my time though. I will now read the rest of the comments for any more info on this thermochromic ability
I stumbled upon your channel a couple of weeks ago, and I've got to tell you that you are so much fun to watch, and this video is no exception! Keep being you!
I am so entertained by you Karen. I laughed my way though this one, and was so proud of you when you thought of the final tool you used! Keep up the great work!
Seeing all the shots of the "spacey landscapes" you could create by adding less or more heat, definitely worth the 5 hours of work!! Such a unique puzzle, truly amazing. I wouldn't wanna put it together myself, I don't even own a diffuser nor a light box!
I love this type of color changing pigments! Would have never thought to use it in a puzzle tho 🤭 but accidentally, I am wearing similar thermal color changing nail polish right now! So I am not a scientist, but from what I understand, these types of pigments do tend to settle in their "cold" color after a while. Maybe if you tried to solve it right after you bought it, you wouldn't need a hair dryer to warm up the pieces and they really would change color just from your body heat. But that's just a guess 🤔 what I know for sure is that I would never finish that puzzle, don't have the patience for it! You're a hero for actually solving it 😂
this reminds me of thermal nail polish (which I love, and incidentally am wearing at this exact moment lol), except that thermal nail polish (the ones I own anyway) actually work with just your body heat and you don't need a hair dryer to make it change colour. Highly recommend it, since you seemed to enjoy the colour changing aspect of this puzzle a lot! I'm literally entertained all day when I'm wearing it, especially in winter with all the temperature changes you experience when you go out and come back inside again.
It’s not even that it took so long, it’s that it was FRUSTRATING the whole time! Your patience with the hair dryer, I could never. I gave up on my Krypt puzzle and at least that had unique piece shapes!
Amazing that you really pulled this off. I would have thrown this puzzle in the trash bin or even burned it. The idea behind the puzzle as such is really good. The cutting of the pieces seems to make it painstakingly hard to put it together. Congrats, you made it! The heat impressions at the end were really fun to watch.
Go look at any of the Evan and Katelyn videos where they play with heat changing pigments. The toilet seat one I think has a sciency explanation of how it works. I think it's totally possible to print this to reveal a design based on what else you mix in with the color change pigments. But that will probably also make the design slightly visible before you add the heat.
That B-Roll looks great :] Glad you had the fortitude and good ideas to carry on to the end! Especially that you had the diffuser for the Hair Dryer -- and the light box was definitely inspired.
Great job! If anyone could finish this puzzle, you could ... glad you stuck with it! I don't think I would have stuck with it (even if I had a diffuser and light box!)
I'm so glad you figured out the diffuser trick for your hair dryer! I was sending telepathic thoughts about the diffuser while watching the video 😂 I'm the type that needs to see things to completion. I suffered through a foil puzzle by spinmasters because I just had to finish it. The foil has a color shifting aspect which is tough. Congrats on sticking with it!
I have no idea why youtube recommended this to me, or why I actually watched the whole thing start to finish, but i can say with confidence that this is the nerdiest video I have ever watched.
Wow 😯... Kudos to you for sticking with it until you completly solved the puzzle! Congratulations! I could never have done this. And people say I have patience just for solving any puzzle (I mostly think: "it doesn’t have anything to do with patience"), but THIS is patience for solving a puzzle. 🤪 RESPECT!
I got this puzzle for Christmas this year and was so frustrated after like six hours of trying to solve it. Thankfully my hands could heat up the pieces just fine but the only parts I solved were parts that had been scratched before the whole thing was cut, so there was a slight pattern to put together. I tried watching some promotional videos to copy the placement of the pieces but even in the advertisements you could see that the pieces were all lumpy and forced into the wrong places. I feel like this could’ve been a great puzzle if they had put even a little variation into the cut! Instead, the pieces were all so similar that you need a backlight and endless trial and error to compare how tightly they fit together. You have amazing determination to get through this whole thing! And I feel a bit better knowing that even a pro puzzler struggled with it 😅
Yes, you can absolutely print under the blue colour, I have a Massive Attack Singles collection box like that, it came as dark purply blue and when you hold it with warm hands it would change colour to reveal the artwork on the box. It is about 20 years old and now it has lost its properties and its main colour is grey with a purple undertone. Maybe this puzzle would be easier to solve in the summertime because I can remember the box chaning faster in the summer time and when the heat was high ( I live in Greece so my house may have 32 celcium degrees sometimes) it would be almost gray. I would suggest just checking on it during August depending where you live of course because I dont know.
Happy National Puzzle Day! I was a little hot and cold on today's puzzle (lol sorry), but I hope you enjoy all of my experimentation anyway 😅 Also, yesterday was the St Paul Winter Carnival Puzzle Competition, so stay tuned for a video all about that in two weeks!
oooo can't wait to watch it !!!
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I am still recovering from volunteering yesterday but this video has me laughing and forgetting all my aches and pains You are the best ❤️🧩🤗
Mrs Karen, Awaiting You Trying Complete the white demon Japanese puzzle ( it's full white + 5000 little pieces)
Happy national puzzle day!!
Ooooohhh science question, YAY: so, color change technology works works by altering the crystalline structure of the paint/dye. Think of it simplistically as when it's cold the crystals are all leaning one way and when you heat them up they roll over in a sense. As the paint/dye ages the crystals get more and more sluggish to roll over, as it were. Your hands probably could've turned the puzzle when it was brand new. And to answer your questions, yes, they' could've had a simplistic design. They probably didn't because then it would have been easily solvable. My biggest gripe with this particular is actually the piece quality. They knew people would be moving these pieces around a LOT. They should've increased the piece stability accordingly. Well, I hope that answered your questions a little bit! Glad you stuck it out. Can't wait for the Ice show episode! I left Minneapolis around 15 years ago, and while I don't miss the cold I do miss the Ice show sometimes.
Thanks for the science info!
Karen and her sister have a soul mate. 🙂
Wait, it's like eink except temp changing instead of pole changing?
Dude, I would not have put up with that puzzle. At one point, I thought that you were going to declare it not worth it, but half of the video was still left, so I knew that you figured out something. Not only the hair dryer, but another tool that I won’t spoil for those that haven’t finished the video yet. This puzzle was certainly a test in perseverance!
You not spoiling it is amazing, I was half way watching the video. Appreciate that!
I'm just waiting for the moment. You set the expectation!
You're probably the only person to ever finish this puzzle. Most people would have given up. I know I would have! I don't have a hair dryer!
i would have given up right at the start ^^
i have a hair dryer but no diffuser & i don´t have a lightbox or a glass table where i could put a lightsource under ^^
This made me laugh more than it should have 😂😂
off topic (kinda) but i really recommend a hair dryer! its great for styling both long and short hair.
unless ur bald, then the only real use you can get of it is solving a thermal puzzle
@@cyanuwu1864yeah lol.
That slowmo of the puzzles turning hot pink is actually satisfying. Also I love how clever Karen can be outside of puzzles and games. The frozen vegetable bag, heating bag/pad and hair dryer plus diffuser are smart solutions. Crazy that all those items mentioned were used for a puzzle lmao
I'm guessing they used leuco dyes instead of liquid crystals, because that would allow them to create the gradient; they consist of molecules that switch between colorless (the hot state) and opaque (the cold state), which are made into microcapsules with the necessary reactants to facilitate the molecular state change. Essentially, with the right temperature and the right stuff around it, the molecule changes shape and either becomes opaque in a specific color (depending on the molecule) or transparent. Because the microcapsules are much larger than ordinary dye particles, there are some challenges to both durability and manufacturing, depending on the form factor, which is a somewhat technical way to say that putting it on paper makes it not last as long.
😮 I'm going to pretend that I understood most of those words! Thanks for the explanation Serenity Dee! 🏆
Also it means whatever gradient they put under it could have easily been a picture. It's like those heat reveal mugs. It doesn't work like a mood ring that seems certain.
To be fair she might have cold hands in a relatively cool room but it still seems like false advertising if you have to have hot hands in the summer for it to change the way they say it will, and even then I don't know if anyone's hands are that hot.
I've seen thermochromic pigments for sale that turn colorless at 25 C and the other was like 31 C, which seems around the temperature that was being advertised. I feel like a lot of people have cold hands that would prevent this from working as it was intended 😬
I don't think the under color was different enough to justify those terrible false fits eeeek
Your perseverance on this puzzle is genuinely inspiring
My guess is that when the puzzle is very fresh your body heat would actually work, but the longer it's been sitting, the more heat you need to activate it. The reason I'm guessing this is actually because when I was in elementary school, after we had the whole fire safety talk, they would give out heat activated color changing pencils, that actually did work with your hand, and I would guess this puzzle uses a similar technology.
That’s a possibility!
I've refound some of those pencils years later that still work just fine in hand heat
@@SparklyEevee same, they work even though they are all years old.
My limited spot research says that cheaper thermochromic inks are notoriously hard to calibrate to specific temperatures, so it seems likely that this puzzle just got a purple/transparent ink with a higher than planned activation temperature.
That also answers the pattern question - with the temperature-sensitive element switching between a dark colour and transparency, you could mix it with whatever other colours you wanted giving an ink that switched between the other colour and whatever dark hue you get combining the other colour with the dark colour. With a wider range of "hot" colours for the puzzle, you'd probably get more visible variation in the "cold" colour, but it would still be reasonably subtle.
I'm sure you're the only one who approached this puzzle with such dedication 😁 It's obvious that this puzzle was produced with this color-changing gimmick in mind as the most important aspect, not the actual solvability.
Whoa. 😳 Thanks for taking one for the team. It’s safe to say I shan’t be purchasing this puzzle to solve. I don’t have a diffuser for my HAIRDRYER, so I’d be chasing pieces all over the place. 😂 I wonder how well a heating pad/throw/blanket would have worked under your foam board? Great video, as always!
It would have to get pretty hot and I’d be worried about starting a fire 😬
That certainly would add another level of difficulty to completing the puzzle. 😂🔥
I wonder if heating up some plates wouldve worked. Then putting the pieces onto the plate and maybe covering it with one warm plate to preserve the heat. Anything else I can think of is a fire hazard possibly. I wouldn't have been able to finish it either way 🧩
my cat has a tendency to lay on my puzzles while im trying to work on them, i wonder if she would be warm enough 😂
@@Atalinay I like your idea!! I doubt it would work though, it looks as if the pieces needed direct hear on top of the "image", so unless the pieces would be upside down on a hot plate, I don't think the heat would have gotten through the pieces
We need a “what Karen has said about jigsaw puzzles out of context” video 😂😂😂
Great
The hair dryer and lightbox was such a great idea. If you didn't need 5 hours and a lightbox to solve it then you could've done the puzzle in a sauna! Then you'd be able to write off a spa day as a video expense lol!
Karen's videos are so well produced, you can tell she puts a lot of hours into them. 😁👌🏻
Yes, she has excellent communication and illustration skills.
Wow wow wow I'm so impressed that you managed to power through and finish it. Your creative solutions and the beautiful shots of the pieces warming up made this video a favorite, so thank you!
There is no way I would have been able to stick this out! The number of things it needs is mind boggling. I loved how you used so many different ideas to get through the puzzle.
A marriage proposal through a jigsaw puzzle, that’s so cute!!!
I would love that!
I once saw a video here of someone doing that and it is actually so cute
@@gsiisp64b12 You don't marry them XD Just Kidding. I guess you wouldn't make it too dificult
@GSII Sp64b then maybe you have bad taste 🗿🗿
@GSII Sp64b You have a plan B, an actual proposal
I definitely wouldn't have finished that! Maybe it would have been doable when it was brand new, but still. I think a much more fun idea would be to have a puzzle with very unique, fun piece shapes that you could solve as a solid-color puzzle. Then when you're done, you could reveal the "secret image" with a hair dryer (this is assuming you could make an image more interesting than a gradient). The bonus to this approach is that you'd be able to use an ordinary hair dryer without the diffusion attachment (who has one of those?) and not worry about the pieces blowing away, because they'd all be attached together at that point!
Great choice of music, Karen. I'm sure it made people all over the world stand and applaud when the last piece was put in. Thanks for the adventure in this nearby galaxy.
I'd like to see this concept well executed. If it was cut well it would have been a better puzzle.
The patience! The tenacity! The sheer resourcefulness on display with this monster! I truly can't believe you finished this -- not because I doubt your ability (We've all seen you solve some truly hardcore jigsaw puzzles) -- but because you would have been so justified in bailing. I feel like even having something as simple as a more unique piece cut would have saved this one! Like, at least in that case you wouldn't have needed the literal lightbox. Totally commendable solve for a puzzle that truly didn't deserve you!
This is the best ad for the Dyson hair dryer with the diffuser attachment 😅
"I'm now going to put my puzzle in the freezer" sounds like a regular Duolingo sentence 😂
Imagine someone to open your freezer to find a puzzle inside xD
My friends already think I have a puzzle problem 😂
I was a fan of your videos, Karen, from way back when in the Nerdfighter and crafting days, and I don't know you but it still makes me really happy to see you finding so much success and joy with your puzzle videos. It warms my heart like a hair dryer!😊
I’m working on this puzzle now. I noticed that it says 300 pieces but the picture on the box shows 345 pieces. I’m wondering if the pieces match up to the picture except for the rows on the right.
This puzzle would - with or without the noises of my hairdryer - absolutely drive me nuts 😂
You're great!!
The problem with the hair dryer is I couldn't listen to podcasts while turning it on and off 😅
As soon as I saw the pieces I had Ketchup puzzle flashbacks! I absolutely would not have finished that puzzle. It was fun to see the colors change with your magic hair dryer. Well done.
Came here to say this exact thing.
Yes! We are all traumatized by the ketchup puzzle 😂😂
i feel like a yellow to purple gradient (or just a wider one in general) would have made this a lot easier. also adding the patterns would make near-duplicate pieces less of an issue
You deserve a trophy for solving that one! 👏
Your music choice when you used the diffuser is cracking me up!! I love it!! Still watching to see you solve it 😊
I found your channel last year and I've been hooked ever since. To the point that you actually got me back into jigsaw puzzles! I don't think I could've stuck this puzzle out so you're braver than I am. Also this was just what I needed today, so thank you for the laugh. Happy National Puzzle Day right back at you, Karen!
You are my hero! Such a legend for sticking with this, and that grotty experience of working through those horrible pieces will help you out with better made puzzles :-) I would have given up 1/3rd of the way through, hairdryer or no hairdryer
Karen, the pigment molecules at room temp or colder are at their most stable shape, which reflects the deep blue to purple colors. When these molecules absorb heat energy, their most stable shape changes, and reflects blue or pink. As they cool off, they lose energy and return to their original shape/orientation, which reflects that darker color. Printing on top of the pigment would only affect the color changing molecules underneath the printing, so it is possible.
But i think, in order to preserve the "countdown timer" nature of the puzzle, the pattern should be visible only in the hot state, not the cold state. Your explanation sounds to me like the pattern would be visible in both states
@@muskyoxes They could try to match the pigment of the pattern design to the deep purple of the cooled puzzle - it might be a little bit visible, but it would still be very tricky to solve without heating it up to get some nice colour contrast.
@@muskyoxes perhaps an invisible ink can be used to create a pattern. This layer could shield the color changing pigment from some of the heat, so it will change at a slower rate.
I would never have finished it! 😂 First of all, I don't have a diffuser for my hairdryer, and I have NO patience for false fits. Like, I'm not an expert at puzzling, and I very often make 2 pieces fit that have no business being in each other's businesses, haha! It was satisfying to see the final reveal gradient, though! Thank you for making it so we don't have to do it ourselves! 🤭
Happy National Puzzle Day Karen!!! 🥳 I'm glad you did this one and not me, because I don't even have a hairdryer to solve it! False fits are definitely the most frustrating kind of puzzle, it could definitely be possible to produce a more complex puzzle with this color-changing material, but it would not be easy or cheap to make, so it definitely feels like they cut a few corners here.
You have way more determination than I do because I would not have finished it. I also wouldn't have blamed you a bit for giving up. I loved watching they hairdryer change the finished puzzle. The images you produced were awesome. I want to screenshot one image for a wallpaper. Stay warm up in St. Paul!
The sponsor reminds me of how Joey Richter from starkid proposed to Lauren by doing a huge puzzle with her of the two of them and their dog and at the end (weeks of work I think since it was a black and white puzzle) he revealed the hidden pieces of the dog holding a wedding ring
You have made so many puzzlers happy. Knowing that they are not the only ones struggling to do puzzles. Doing this for us was great. I for one feel that I really don’t have to feel bad about having a hard time. I’m glad you took the time to do this woohoo❤❤
I didn't believe you solved this puzzle! What courage and patience you have and what a beautiful hairdryer! Lol!
This puzzle almost made me mad... until I saw your video ! THANK YOU SO MUCH KAREN ! About 100 pieces were connected and I was blocked when I searched for help. I hair-dried my work and... discovered so many errors. Heat was the key-tip. Did you notice, at last, the shapes on the box (recto&verso) are the actual ones ? Start from the left (the "pink" corners). And drop the 3 columns on the right (côté "orange"): they don't exist, it'a trap.
Greetings from France.
(By the way, I suscribed your channel)
Ce puzzle m'a presque rendu fou... jusqu'à ce que je voie ta vidéo ! MERCI BEAUCOUP KAREN ! Environ 100 pièces étaient connectées et j'étais bloqué lorsque j'ai cherché de l'aide sur Internet. J'ai passé mon travail au sèche-cheveux et... j'ai découvert plein d'erreurs. La chaleur était la clé. As-tu remarqué, à la fin, que les formes sur la boîte (recto&verso) sont les bonnes ? Commencez par la gauche (les coins "roses"). Et laissez tomber les 3 colonnes de droite (côté "orange") : elles n'existent pas, c'est un piège.
Salutations de France.
(Au passage, je me suis abonné à votre chaîne)
My mom loves watching you, and we love jigsaw puzzles! Keep up the great work Karen!
60 pieces an hour or 1 piece a minute and a hairdryer and light pad and the fact you got it done-made this video so much fun! I hope you kept it together and thanks for sharing this one as I know I could never get it done as quickly if at all.
Dude I wish I had you’re patience. It takes me forever to do normal puzzles with plenty of different colors and textures to look at. Props to you for finishing the puzzle. Hair dryer
I am so impressed by the perseverance and ingenuity it took for you to solve this puzzle!! And your comments about the design seem spot on. Well done!! 😀
I think it probably would have warmed up with body heat when you initially got it. I think the color changing effect weakened enough that you needed drastic temperature shifts to see an outcome and not just body temperature.
False fits is definitely my most hated puzzle problem to run into. It takes something that could be fun and challenging to just annoying.
The music and editing was great! In this video glad you finally got it done
As for the technology and a possible design: There are pigments that have a solid color and turn transparent when heated. I don't know, if that's, what they used here, but maybe. The deep purple maybe a layer that is sitting on top of just a regular printed gradient, and that turns transparent to reveal the gradient underneath. With such a technology, it would of course be easy to have any kind of design underneath. But if its one layer and one pigment that makes one color AND another color, it might be more difficult.espescially if you want it to appear one uniform solid color in its unactivated state.
I was amazed at all the hurdles you overcame to solve this puzzle. Great video and wonderful editing. I was surprised at the hair dryer as a solution but I guess a heat gun would have been too hot and also lacking a diffuser, which ultimately was the game changer. The color change was fun to watch, so thanks for going through all that!
Always new and funky puzzle ideas. Looks fun
LOOKS fun. Was it fun? Debatable.
Watching more of the video now 😄🤣🤣. I love the success music!🤣
Also your editing is always really great but this video especially stood out to me. The more vlog-esque style at the beginning and all of the slow-mo with dramatic music was all great!
This was hysterical! Had so much fun watching you do this puzzle! Extra, extra kudos for figuring out the best heat source for the best results! Love your channel!
28:54 - Using a darker background (grey or black) may help in sorting the pink pieces.
I have never watched a video about puzzles with so much excitement and anticipation before.
I love all the triumphant music 😂 great job!! I definitely would have given up!
You are SO PATIENT. I have so much respect for you! This looked so difficult!
Would it have been easier with a unique puzzle cut? If they couldn't add a design. That way, you would not have to rely on your hair-dryer so much, even with a design on the puzzle. Also, I'm sure they would be able to do the design under the special colour changing film. Like they have on colour changing mugs. However I'm not sure you could do a design on the film itself.
I wish they had used a unique puzzle cut, although it would have sort of undermined the gimmick.
Typically color changing objects using heat (other than fabric) are painted/printed using thermotropic liquid crystals. The design would have to be printed underneath the color changing medium, as anything other than a sealant applied on top would damage the crystals, therefore damaging the color changing effect, as the crystals 'twist' (insert technical term I don't know) at different temperatures. I also wonder if that's why it didn't change temperature from room temp compared to your hands- the way they had to top coat it or transported it may have required crystals or another substance that only reacts to higher temperatures. If you want a better explanation than mine, @EvanandKatelyn have an old video where they use these crystals to made a mood ring toilet seat :)
"When millions of Americans yell at their TVs for their favorite football teams, you are..."
"...yelling at a woman to put a curl diffuser on her hairdryer to use in her jigsaw puzzle."
And actuall conversation I just had with my husband this morning while watching this video 😂😂😂
You're so right, I would have given up so fast lol
Loved the extended dramatic color changing scenes btw, made the puzzle much cooler!
The Areaware gradient puzzle is one of the few I have decided not to finish (I didn't try a light box), so... I probably would have absolutely hated this puzzle. I'm so glad that Karen did it so I don't have to!
Hate the puzzle, love the music! Great entertaining video! I don’t have a diffuser with my hair dryer, and would never attempt such a frustrating thing. But, I’m glad you did and gave us a fun video - I especially liked the hand shadow.
it does look like the design they have on the box does match the solve of the puzzle -- if you look at the final solve (~31:34) - rotated so that the top right is the bottom left - and the design, i think they do match! i would definitely lean on that if i didnt have a blow-dryer or light bix handy!
There's a 100 piece clear acrylic puzzle sold at Five Below that I picked up for fun. It has the same issue of a lot of piece options to put together. Would love to see your take on it because I don't think the light box would work since it's already clear.
Just watching this was giving me flashbacks of watching you do the Heinz puzzle. Another thanks for doing it so us much less patient puzzlers could save their sanity.
Proud of you for not giving up! You’ll definitely grout from this experience.
Man, I am so impressed by your patience. I'm not an expert puzzler though I have completed 5000, 6000, and 7500 piece puzzles before. I'm sure i would have thrown this one in the garbage or set it on fire out of pure frustration.....And then maybe thrown a rock through the window of the company that invented it.
You deserve a Congressional Medal of Honor or a Knighthood for doing this puzzle. I am definitely in the ‘regular people giving up’ group. I don’t even own a hairdryer. I could have used my iron, I guess. If I burned it, all the better!
I don’t know the science of that paint but since both the orange and the pink cooled to the same dark color, I think they could have put an orange design in the pink and vice versa
I’d love to see a video about puzzle piece cuts and what to look out for. Also, why some puzzles show the lines between the pieces and others don’t.
Heat sensitive colours like that depend a lot on the time of year. I have a colour changing notebook and during the summer when it was getting up to 40C, it got stuck on the warm colour, I had to roll a cold bottle of water over it to get it to change back for a short while. During the winter it's hard to get it to change colour.
I‘m so happy that you finished it… because the footage at the end is really beautiful. With changing the colour differently and great music in the background. So well done how you presented the solved puzzle 👍
So satisfying to watch those pieces change with the hair dryer! My friend reccomended your channel to me after I had to give up on a puzzle I got for myself for new year's. It was mostly black with pictures of butterflies on it. I tried for hours and only managed to fit two pieces together -- even trying to work on the butterflies didn't help me get anywhere. I don't think I would have been able to do this one, so I definitely commend you for your perseverence!
Thermochromism is the property of substances to change colour due to a change in temperature. Examples are the strip on a Duracell battery which indicates battery life remaining, a mood ring, colour changing coffee mugs, or the famous 1990s hypercolour t-shirts. I even think my brothers had matchbox hot wheels cars that colour changed.
The two common approaches of thermochromism are based on liquid crystals and leuco dyes and for your jigsaw I would guess they used a leuco dye, which can switch between two chemical forms; one of which is colourless. So chances are one of the layers of paper is actually printed with the gradient colours on it so the solved image. And then a layer of leuco dye is onto of it, so when it’s activates by heat it turns colourless revealing the gradient orange pink you see and when it isn’t activate then it remains the original leuco dye colour, thus the purple/blue, as indigo is the most classic use of a leuco dye for papers and clothing.
If this is in fact how it’s printed that the bottom layers is in fact a normal paper jigsaw and the colour changing part is the the purple blue layer then yes I’m sure they could have printed some sort of image/line art/pattern on the gradient paper even if was very slight. I think they may have felt that they may have need a thicker layer of leuco dye to hide the pattern underneath thus affecting its thermochromic ability.
Also note the fact you had to use a hair drier on something that was suppose to change with body heat shows how much they didn’t trial this jigsaw design before market. As with all colour changing items I had growing up they lost their ability to change colour after a period of time or use or wash and wear or forcing the reaction back and forth. So maybe the layer on the jigsaw is now no longer as sensitive as it once was before they marketed it.
I would have finished that puzzle as I’m too stubborn not too. There would have been a bunch of choice words and anger and many attempts to quit. But I would have continued with it. Would hate to know my time though.
I will now read the rest of the comments for any more info on this thermochromic ability
This is the most in-depth explanation I've gotten so far!
I stumbled upon your channel a couple of weeks ago, and I've got to tell you that you are so much fun to watch, and this video is no exception! Keep being you!
I am so entertained by you Karen. I laughed my way though this one, and was so proud of you when you thought of the final tool you used! Keep up the great work!
Seeing all the shots of the "spacey landscapes" you could create by adding less or more heat, definitely worth the 5 hours of work!! Such a unique puzzle, truly amazing. I wouldn't wanna put it together myself, I don't even own a diffuser nor a light box!
I'm glad you stuck it out, those shots at the end were very satisfying :)
I love this type of color changing pigments! Would have never thought to use it in a puzzle tho 🤭 but accidentally, I am wearing similar thermal color changing nail polish right now! So I am not a scientist, but from what I understand, these types of pigments do tend to settle in their "cold" color after a while. Maybe if you tried to solve it right after you bought it, you wouldn't need a hair dryer to warm up the pieces and they really would change color just from your body heat. But that's just a guess 🤔 what I know for sure is that I would never finish that puzzle, don't have the patience for it! You're a hero for actually solving it 😂
Your torture was sublime ... Nicely played , Miss Puzzles ...
You truly are braver than any marine to finish this puzzle. This was so much fun to watch!
Colour changes near the end was like a galaxy. So pretty
Oh my! Bless your heart. You have more patience than I could ever hope to have. Congratulations! Your idea of using a hairdryer was epic.
this reminds me of thermal nail polish (which I love, and incidentally am wearing at this exact moment lol), except that thermal nail polish (the ones I own anyway) actually work with just your body heat and you don't need a hair dryer to make it change colour. Highly recommend it, since you seemed to enjoy the colour changing aspect of this puzzle a lot! I'm literally entertained all day when I'm wearing it, especially in winter with all the temperature changes you experience when you go out and come back inside again.
what brand would you recommend for this? I've only ever worn one brand for this kind of polish and it doesnt exist anymore
I imagine it works like the ''mood rings''
.
I love the puzzles where you read a mystery book and then assemble the puzzle to reveal the glow in dark solution 😊
It’s not even that it took so long, it’s that it was FRUSTRATING the whole time! Your patience with the hair dryer, I could never. I gave up on my Krypt puzzle and at least that had unique piece shapes!
Amazing that you really pulled this off. I would have thrown this puzzle in the trash bin or even burned it. The idea behind the puzzle as such is really good. The cutting of the pieces seems to make it painstakingly hard to put it together. Congrats, you made it! The heat impressions at the end were really fun to watch.
I get so much enjoyment watching you tackle these puzzles. Who'd a thunk it!
Go look at any of the Evan and Katelyn videos where they play with heat changing pigments. The toilet seat one I think has a sciency explanation of how it works.
I think it's totally possible to print this to reveal a design based on what else you mix in with the color change pigments. But that will probably also make the design slightly visible before you add the heat.
This is pure dedication and I am definitely here for it! Awesome video!
That B-Roll looks great :] Glad you had the fortitude and good ideas to carry on to the end! Especially that you had the diffuser for the Hair Dryer -- and the light box was definitely inspired.
Great job! If anyone could finish this puzzle, you could ... glad you stuck with it! I don't think I would have stuck with it (even if I had a diffuser and light box!)
Hey. You pushed through it. You should be super proud of yourself!!! Great job.
You're so smart 😁. I love seeing you come up with all these ideas to overcome challenges.
I'm so glad you figured out the diffuser trick for your hair dryer! I was sending telepathic thoughts about the diffuser while watching the video 😂 I'm the type that needs to see things to completion. I suffered through a foil puzzle by spinmasters because I just had to finish it. The foil has a color shifting aspect which is tough. Congrats on sticking with it!
I have no idea why youtube recommended this to me, or why I actually watched the whole thing start to finish, but i can say with confidence that this is the nerdiest video I have ever watched.
Wow 😯... Kudos to you for sticking with it until you completly solved the puzzle! Congratulations! I could never have done this.
And people say I have patience just for solving any puzzle (I mostly think: "it doesn’t have anything to do with patience"), but THIS is patience for solving a puzzle. 🤪
RESPECT!
You’re dedication to finish this is outstanding! 🎉
I got this puzzle for Christmas this year and was so frustrated after like six hours of trying to solve it. Thankfully my hands could heat up the pieces just fine but the only parts I solved were parts that had been scratched before the whole thing was cut, so there was a slight pattern to put together. I tried watching some promotional videos to copy the placement of the pieces but even in the advertisements you could see that the pieces were all lumpy and forced into the wrong places. I feel like this could’ve been a great puzzle if they had put even a little variation into the cut! Instead, the pieces were all so similar that you need a backlight and endless trial and error to compare how tightly they fit together.
You have amazing determination to get through this whole thing! And I feel a bit better knowing that even a pro puzzler struggled with it 😅
Oh I didn't even know they made ads for it! I'll have to go look those up.
I can't believe you had the patience to complete this. Fantastic!
Yes, you can absolutely print under the blue colour, I have a Massive Attack Singles collection box like that, it came as dark purply blue and when you hold it with warm hands it would change colour to reveal the artwork on the box. It is about 20 years old and now it has lost its properties and its main colour is grey with a purple undertone. Maybe this puzzle would be easier to solve in the summertime because I can remember the box chaning faster in the summer time and when the heat was high ( I live in Greece so my house may have 32 celcium degrees sometimes) it would be almost gray. I would suggest just checking on it during August depending where you live of course because I dont know.
This video feels like an emotional rollercoaster and I'm here for it