Ogling Puzzle Palooza

A puzzler’s destination with a dazzling selection of puzzles!

The intrusive Facebook spyware finally gave back some value to me the other day by displaying an advertisement for a shop nearby called Puzzle Palooza. Clearly, FB and possibly Google search engine, Gmail, Google Home and Alexa conspired to send up the ad, based on regular posts, emails, and conversations by me and others in my household about puzzles.

For once, I was sorta kinda glad for my lack of online privacy and targeted ads, despite the fact I supposedly have software and settings that block such, because I would have never known about this incredible shop less than one-hour’s drive from me.

So on a sunny Saturday me and my BPC (best puzzle companion — yes, I’m making that a thing, just among us puzzlers), and headed to Occuquan, Virginia, and adorable historic town just 22 miles south of Washington, D.C.

Even if there were not a one-of-a-kind puzzle store there, the town is worth the trip, to explore the boutiques, galleries and restaurants. So, we made an afternoon of it, and enjoyed a stroll along Mill Street, by the Occuquan River, and we ended up at our excitedly anticipated destination, Puzzle Palooza.

It was arranged like a library, with puzzles on shelves in thematic clusters. There was a section with puzzles featuring Virginia landmarks and cities from around the nation and the globe, a section with children’s puzzles, art puzzles, animal puzzles, and other loosely categorized puzzle themes. There were gigantic puzzles with more than 46,000 pieces! Those gargantuan puzzles ranged from about $595 to over $700. Most puzzles were priced around the same as I pay in toy stores or on Amazon or online at the puzzle manufacturer’s websites.

There was a “sale” shelf, thought I didn’t see any real bargains, but the real enjoyment of shopping there was the expansive variety of puzzles, most of which I had never seen before and only one that I had actually already built before. For someone who has a collection of over 100 puzzles, that was pretty surprising!

I picked up four puzzles, one a premium wood puzzle of a canoe on a lake from the Springbok Majestic collection, and the others from a variety of brands, all featuring dogs – my favorite feature of any puzzle, even if it’s a curled-up puppy in the corner. I spent about $90, not counting dinner and gas, but to see an assortment of hundreds of uncommon puzzles and get to take them home without waiting for delivery was priceless!