Puzzle World's Popularity Is No Riddle

A whole store – a large store, at that – devoted entirely to puzzles. Who wouldn't love that?

Actually, Puzzle World, at 12501 Blue Mound Rd., has some fun and educational toys as well, such as a selection of art supplies and Thomas the Tank Engine trains.

But, well, it's mostly puzzles, all kinds of puzzles, including hundreds, perhaps thousands, of different jigsaw puzzles.

Owner Roger Hoffmann is fairly sure he has the largest selection in Southeast Wisconsin, and then again, probably in the whole state. It wouldn't be a stretch to go father afield than that, since, Hoffman said, he has regular customers who travel all the way from Chicago to browse his jigsaw puzzle collection.

You can check out the selection from the comfort of home by visiting Hoffmann's online store.

While Patch was at the store Wednesday, a woman stopped in and bought an armload of jigsaw puzzles in the 500- to 1,000-piece range – for her 97-year-old grandmother to assemble.

The piece-count of Hoffman's puzzles goes much higher than that. It tops out, though, with what he says is his most marveled-at product: a 24,000-piece behemoth that will stretch 18 feet when complete.

That would keep a large family for quite a few long Wisconsin winter nights.