norwich vermont usa 1974 founder steve richardson dave tibbetts headquarters norwich vermont area served worldwide products jigsaw puzzles owner steve richardson number of employees 25 2015 website http www.stavepuzzles.com stave puzzles is an american jigsaw puzzle company located in norwich vermont . the company was started in 1974 by steve richardson and dave tibbetts the name being a combination of their two first names . they manufacture hand cut jigsaw puzzles made from cherry backed 5 layered 1 4 inch 6.4 mm wood . stave produces several different puzzles types ranging from traditional puzzles teaser puzzles which can have many open areas within the puzzles trick puzzles in which the puzzles can be put together in two or more ways of which only one is correct . they also create three dimensional puzzles limited edition puzzles and complete custom puzzles . each puzzle is provided in a green and blue rectangular box and does not include a picture of the completed puzzle . citation needed owners of stave puzzles include queen elizabeth ii barbara bush stephen king julie andrews tom peters and bill gates . 1 2 stave puzzles is the largest hand cut jigsaw puzzle company in the usa and perhaps in the world but faces growing competition from laser cutting companies like liberty puzzles and artifact puzzles that produce similar but generally judged to be lower quality products at roughly a tenth of the cost . citation needed contents 1 company history 2 products 2.1 traditional puzzles 2.2 teaser puzzles 2.3 trick puzzles 2.4 limited edition puzzles 2.5 custom puzzles 3 unique features 4 samples of unique features 5 accolades 6 references 7 external links company history edit steve richardson moved from new jersey to vermont in 1969 and started a game design business with dave tibbetts . 3 in 1974 steve was offered us 300 to make a wooden jigsaw puzzle . 4 he accepted the job and bought a saw to teach himself how to do so . in the same year steve and dave together founded stave puzzles 5 forming the name from a combination of their first names steve plus dave . citation needed in 1976 steve bought out dave s share of the company for us 1 and a jigsaw of indeterminate value . 6 he built a small shop behind his garage and hired his first employee . in 1983 stave introduced their first 2 way trick puzzle called go fish . citation needed in 1989 stave puzzles released an april fools day joke puzzle called 5 easy pieces which had no solution . the puzzles first thirty buyers were refunded their purchase price . 7 in 1990 stave puzzles was listed in the guinness book of world records as having the most expensive jigsaw puzzle . 8 in 1997 stave introduced the monkey fist trick . the next year in1998 the crazy claws were introduced . citation needed in 1998 stave was invited to show their puzzles at the white house . clarification needed citation needed in 2003 stave introduced their first 3d trick puzzle loop de loop . citation needed products edit traditional puzzles edit stave produces traditional rectangular puzzles that range in size from 5 by 7 inches 13 cm 18 cm 75 pieces to 20 by 25 inches 51 cm 64 cm 1000 pieces . for every hundred pieces five custom pieces such as dates names or silhouettes can be cut into the puzzle . citation needed teaser puzzles edit stave s teaser puzzles are designed in such a way as to make assembly of the jigsaw puzzle harder than in a traditional jigsaw creation . stave commissions original artwork for these puzzles . illustrators and stave craftspeople work together on the design to reduce the number of visual cues that would normally make it easy to put together a traditional puzzle . citation needed a typical teaser design has some areas that are similar to traditional puzzles making it easier to assemble some of the puzzle . however in the center of the puzzle or in other separate areas holes are left into which many pieces have to fit . these pieces may be silhouettes of shapes that are representative of objects people animals etc. it s not apparent how they fit together in the holes of the puzzle until they are played with and studied . citation needed the difficult rating system for teasers is measured on a scale of one to four swords with four swords being the most difficult . citation needed trick puzzles edit steve richardson earned the name chief tormentor for inventing the trick puzzle 9 a puzzle genre in which some pieces fit in two or more different places but only one of the solutions is considered correct . the object of a trick puzzle is detailed on a small block of wood that accompanies trick puzzles . 10 an example of a stave trick puzzle is champ which is made up of 44 blue pieces and fits together 32 different ways only one of which is correct where the serpent eats its own tail . 10 11 the difficulty rating system for trick puzzles is measured on a scale of one to five lightning bolts with five being the most difficult . 10 teaser and trick puzzles have been combined together in puzzles such as palace of pranks . 12 limited edition puzzles edit stave limited edition puzzles are the premier puzzles stave produces . each is produced from custom commissioned artwork and sold in a limited quantity . a typical limited edition has included only 50 units although some runs have included as many as 100 units . citation needed the four main types of limited edition puzzles include double deckers ; riddle ; mystery story ; and trick . some of the limited edition puzzles are hand painted as opposed to a print affixed to the wood . citation needed in general the limited editions also include items that fit the theme and help guide you through the puzzle and additional games . for example the limited edition trick puzzle time traveler comes with several hand crafted booklets to link the puzzle to the time travel theme underlying the puzzle . the theme of the puzzle is major events cultural historical scientific discoveries etc. from 1000 ce to 2000 ce . the booklets guide you through untangling a set of chronological mishaps caused by an evildoer . citation needed double deckers double decker puzzles are made up of multiple layers that sit on top of one another . irregular edges and dropouts highlight the imagery in interesting ways . some double decker puzzles include very simple tricks swappable image areas . for example the snow white limited edition allows you to swap the evil queen and snow white in the mirror . citation needed riddle puzzles riddle puzzles are accompanied by a book of riddles word games and other surprises linked to the puzzle . for example figural pieces in the puzzle might form a rebus that must be solved . citation needed mystery story each puzzle is accompanied by a complete mystery novel . however you do not learn the ending of the mystery until you send in your answer to stave s mystery hot line . for example the limited edition hexed has artwork by andrea farnham and a novel by susan stofflet . the puzzle comes in sections enclosed in velvet bags that you do in pieces as you read and solve parts of the mystery . citation needed trick the limited edition trick puzzles are similar in general challenge types to the other trick puzzles sold by stave . the main difference is greater theming and integration . taking time traveler as an example the entire puzzle has a theme and solving the tricks and re arranging the pieces is linked to a story and learning about history . other puzzles such as knight at stavely castle include 3d pop ups such as an entire castle fa ade that goes together multiple ways and a 3d sword that you need to remove from a stone . 10 these trick puzzles are thus more intense than the generally available trick puzzles because of the themed linking between the puzzle and accompanying materials . citation needed list of limited editions and statuses some of the limited editions which have been released by stave include 13 name type artists first sold status comments at the end of his rope mystery andrea farnham art suzanne stofflet mystery 1996 39 50 cinderella double decker jennifer brown 1992 23 50 this puzzle also includes a simple trick . densel the dragon trick steve richardson tricks candy thun tricks and art 1990 25 35 dickens of a christmas riddle molly delaney art suzanne stofflet riddles 1997 20 50 dollhouse village handpainted jim schubert art 1979 98 100 this puzzle is actually composed of five smaller puzzles that are now sold only as a set . there was a period where individual components could be purchased separately . hexed mystery andrea farnham art suzanne stofflet mystery 1998 23 50 hms pinafore trick steve richardson tricks and teasers suzanne stofflet word games molly delany art 2000 7 50 knight at stavely castle trick steve richardson trick candy thun art 1994 20 50 mad tea party riddle jennifer brown art suzanne stofflet riddles 1997 25 50 midsummer night s dream double decker henri loustau 1981 77 100 nutcracker suite double decker jennifer brown 1991 28 50 off with her head riddle jennifer brown art riddles 1998 20 50 pentagon mystery andrea farnham art suzanne stofflet mystery 1996 50 50 peter pan & the irate pirate riddle molly delaney art suzanne stofflet riddles 1997 26 50 pharaoh s curse trick andrea farnham art and tricks 1993 50 50 romeo and juliet double decker jennifer brown 1999 12 50 snow white double decker jennifer brown 1993 19 50 this puzzle also includes a simple trick . stavely manor trick steve richardson trick candy thun art 1993 34 50 time traveler trick andrea farnham art and tricks 1999 50 50 treasure island trick andrea farnham art and tricks 1991 47 50 twain foolery riddle molly delaney art suzanne stofflet riddles 1999 16 50 under the big top trick andrea farnham art and tricks 1992 22 50 wizard of oz riddle molly delaney art suzanne stofflet riddles 1998 27 50 custom puzzles edit sample custom puzzle made from a picture of a puzzler s cat justin . custom puzzles are full custom work designed in conjunction with the crafters at stave . the efforts can range from the simple such as a wedding picture made into a puzzle to complex completely commissioned artwork and carefully designed cutting styles . citation needed unique features edit no picture of the completed puzzle is provided with the puzzle . 2 clown piece all stave puzzles contain a silhouette of the company trademark clown . 10 phony corner it looks like a corner piece but it s not . usually crafted into the interior portion of the puzzle . 11 whammy edge adjacent edge pieces that don t actually interlock with each other due to e.g. a wedge like piece foiling attempts to assemble the puzzle using the straight edge first . 11 monkey fist contains multiple identical large open interlocks into which multiple sections of the puzzle with identical smaller interlocks will fit . 10 14 in terms of differentiating a monkey fist from crazy claws monkey fists have two types of pieces the repeating open interlock and small fists to go inside the interlock . in contrast crazy claws have repeating loose interlocks that are virtually identical to one another . crazy claws loose interlocks shaped like horseshoes that can connect with each other in two distinct ways and can also connect with several other claws . 14 2 way tricks some pieces fit together in more than one place