Books & hobbies · Updated September 2026
Gifts for parents who do puzzles and crosswords
Tested by The GiftsVerdict team
Boston, Massachusetts · September 2026
The short answer
For a serious jigsaw person, the upgrade worth making is wood: Wentworth cuts 1000 to 1500 piece puzzles from 4mm ply in Britain with whimsy pieces cut into shapes, from about $58 to $70 and up. For everybody else Ravensburger is the honest answer at roughly $15 to $25 for 1000 pieces — it is the best-selling brand in the world and the scale funds a genuinely better die-cut at an ordinary price. The cheap upgrade almost nobody buys is a puzzle board or roll-up mat at $25 to $40, which solves the actual problem, which is the dining table.
This is a category where the expensive option and the correct option frequently differ, and where a $20 purchase can be better received than a $200 one. The important thing is knowing which kind of puzzler you are buying for.
A cardboard puzzler and a wooden puzzler are different hobbies. Wooden puzzles are slower, cut in irregular shapes with figurative pieces hidden in them, and cost roughly three times as much for the same piece count. Some people find them the best thing in the category and others find them frustrating, and you cannot tell from outside without asking.
The other thing worth knowing is that the binding constraint for most people in this hobby is not puzzles, it is table space. A jigsaw occupying the dining table for four days is a household negotiation, and the gift that solves it costs less than a good puzzle.
How we researched this
Desk research against published specifications, board thicknesses, piece counts and pricing read in September 2026, plus public customer reports. Puzzles were compared on cut quality and board thickness rather than artwork, since the image is a matter of taste and the fit is not.
How we choose what goes on a listThe ranking at a glance
| # | Name | Why it is here | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wentworth wooden jigsawWentworth · wentworthpuzzles.com | Best overall for a serious puzzler | From about $58 for 1000 to 1500 pieces |
| 2 | Ravensburger 1000-piece puzzlesRavensburger · ravensburger.us | Best value, and the safest buy | About $15 to $25 |
| 3 | A puzzle board or roll-up matVarious — look for a board with drawers, or a felt mat with a tube | Best cheap gift, and the most useful | About $25 to $40 |
| 4 | A cryptic crossword subscription or collectionVarious — a newspaper puzzles subscription or a bound collection | Best for the crossword half | About $40 to $100 a year |
| 5 | Wooden chess set | Best for a puzzler who wants an opponent | About $180 |
What we judged on
The four things that decide this category
- Wood or cardboard?
- A different hobby, not a better one. Wood is slower, irregular and roughly three times the price.
- How thick is the board?
- Thin board means puzzle dust and pieces that lift. This is what separates the good cardboard from the bad.
- Does it solve the table problem?
- The real constraint in this hobby is a surface that has to be cleared for dinner.
- Is it a one-off or a supply?
- A completed puzzle is a solved problem. The best gifts here keep producing.
Best overall for a serious puzzler
Wentworth wooden jigsaw
Wentworth · wentworthpuzzles.com · From about $58 for 1000 to 1500 pieces
The step up that a committed jigsaw person notices immediately. Cut from 4mm ply rather than pressed card, in Britain, with whimsies — pieces cut into recognisable shapes, hidden through the image — which is the part people actually talk about. The pieces have weight and the fit is decisive rather than approximate. It is roughly three times the price of cardboard for the same count, and the solve is slower because the cut is irregular, which is either the appeal or the objection depending on the person.
Best for: Someone who finishes a 1000-piece puzzle in a weekend and wants a harder one.
What we liked
- 4mm ply — pieces have weight and sit flat rather than curling
- Whimsy pieces cut into shapes, which is genuinely delightful the first time
- Handmade in Britain from sustainably sourced material
What we did not
- From about $58 against $15 to $25 for cardboard at the same count
- The irregular cut frustrates people who like a conventional grid
- Slower to solve, which is a feature or a problem depending on who you ask
Best value, and the safest buy
Ravensburger 1000-piece puzzles
Ravensburger · ravensburger.us · About $15 to $25
The correct default. Ravensburger is the best-selling puzzle brand in the world and that scale has funded a genuinely superior die-cut at an ordinary price — tight interlock, thick board and almost no puzzle dust, which is the marker of a bad cardboard puzzle. At $15 to $25 you can buy three, which is a better gift than one expensive one for most people, because the pleasure in this hobby is in having the next one waiting.
Best for: Almost anyone, and especially if you are not sure how serious they are.
What we liked
- Best cut and board quality at the ordinary price point
- Minimal puzzle dust, and pieces that do not lift
- Cheap enough to buy several, which is what most puzzlers want
What we did not
- Artwork is a matter of taste and you are guessing
- A completed puzzle is a solved problem — buy more than one
- Nothing special to unwrap if you only buy a single box
Best cheap gift, and the most useful
A puzzle board or roll-up mat
Various — look for a board with drawers, or a felt mat with a tube · About $25 to $40
The gift nobody buys and everybody in this hobby wants. A jigsaw takes over the only large table in the house for days, which means it either gets abandoned when people need to eat or the household eats elsewhere. A board with sorting drawers or a felt mat that rolls the whole thing into a tube ends that negotiation entirely. Under $40, and it makes every future puzzle better rather than being consumed once.
Best for: Anyone who does jigsaws on a table the household also eats at.
What we liked
- Solves the actual constraint in the hobby rather than adding to it
- Improves every puzzle they do from now on
- Under $40, so it pairs with an actual puzzle
What we did not
- Unglamorous to unwrap on its own
- Roll-up mats can shift pieces if rolled carelessly; boards are steadier
- Check the board is bigger than a 1000-piece puzzle before buying
Best for the crossword half
A cryptic crossword subscription or collection
Various — a newspaper puzzles subscription or a bound collection · About $40 to $100 a year
Crosswords and jigsaws often live in the same person and need completely different gifts. The important distinction is cryptic versus quick: someone who does cryptics has a setter they prefer and will notice immediately if you buy the wrong paper, and someone who does quick crosswords will find a cryptic collection unpleasant rather than challenging. Find out which before spending. A year of a puzzles subscription is a daily gift, which is unusually good value in this category.
Best for: Someone with a pen and a folded newspaper every morning.
What we liked
- A daily event for a year rather than a weekend
- Cheap per day compared with anything else here
- Print or app, depending on what they already use
What we did not
- Cryptic and quick are different hobbies — buying wrong is worse than buying nothing
- Cryptic solvers are loyal to specific setters and papers
- App subscriptions auto-renew; buy a gift term deliberately
Best for a puzzler who wants an opponent
Wooden chess set
About $180
Adjacent rather than central, and included for the person who does puzzles because they like a problem rather than because they like jigsaws. A solid wood set with weighted pieces is a different object from the folding board most households have, and it is the kind of thing that stays out on a side table and gets used with grandchildren. Check the weighting and that it is solid wood rather than veneered composite, which is where the price differences hide.
Best for: A problem-solver with a grandchild who is learning.
What we liked
- Stays out and gets used rather than living in a cupboard
- Weighted solid-wood pieces feel entirely different to play with
- Works across generations, which few gifts here do
What we did not
- Needs somebody to play against, which is the whole problem with chess
- $180 is the level where solid wood starts; below that is veneer
- Wrong gift for a jigsaw person who wants to be left alone
Not ranked
What we looked at and left off
A ranking is only honest if it says what it excluded and why.
Very large puzzles — 3000 pieces and up
They look like a generous gift and are frequently a burden. A 3000-piece puzzle needs a surface most homes do not have and a fortnight nobody has, and the usual outcome is an unopened box. Buy three good 1000s instead.
Personalised photo jigsaws
The cut is nearly always poor, the board is thin and the image is low contrast, which makes for a bad solve. They are a keepsake with a puzzle-shaped inconvenience attached rather than a puzzle.
Brain-training apps and subscriptions
Marketed at this audience heavily and left off deliberately. The claims made for them go well beyond what is established, and someone doing cryptic crosswords daily does not need an app to exercise their mind.
Questions
What people ask us about this
- What is the best gift for someone who loves jigsaw puzzles?
- For a committed puzzler, a wooden jigsaw — Wentworth cuts 1000 to 1500 piece puzzles from 4mm ply with whimsy pieces, from about $58. For anyone else, two or three Ravensburger 1000-piece puzzles at $15 to $25 each, which is the best cut and board quality at the ordinary price.
- Are wooden jigsaw puzzles worth the money?
- For the right person. They cost roughly three times a cardboard puzzle of the same count, the pieces have real weight and the irregular cut plus figurative whimsy pieces makes the solve slower and more interesting. Someone who likes a conventional grid will find that frustrating rather than better, so it is worth knowing which they are.
- What makes a good quality jigsaw puzzle?
- Thick board, tight interlock and minimal puzzle dust. Thin board is what causes pieces to lift and edges to fray, and dust in the box is the reliable sign of a cheap die-cut. Ravensburger is the benchmark at the ordinary price; wooden puzzles are cut from about 4mm ply.
- What do you buy someone who does crosswords?
- A puzzles subscription, at roughly $40 to $100 a year, which works out as a daily gift. Establish whether they do cryptic or quick crosswords first — they are different hobbies, and cryptic solvers are loyal to particular setters and papers, so the wrong subscription is worse than none.
- What is a good cheap gift for a puzzle lover?
- A puzzle board with sorting drawers or a roll-up felt mat, at about $25 to $40. It solves the real constraint in the hobby — a jigsaw occupying the dining table for days — and it improves every puzzle they do afterwards rather than being used up once.
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