Colorado Grandpa Completes World's Largest 60,000-Piece Jigsaw Puzzle After 800 Hours

After four years, 800 painstaking hours, and one heart-stopping missing piece, a Colorado grandfather has finally snapped the last bit into place by completing what is billed as the world's largest commercially available jigsaw puzzle. The victory lap is equal parts triumph, exhaustion, and a very full garage.

When Patience Meets 60,000 Pieces

Meet Lou Salas, who casually assembled the 60,000-piece puzzle titled What a Wonderful World by Dowdle. The puzzle arrives in 60 separate boxes, each containing 1,000 pieces, which Salas methodically completes in his puzzle room, storing finished sections on thick plastic sheets. Along the way, he received assistance from his 8-year-old granddaughter, fondly dubbed a puzzle prodigy.

The Missing Puzzle Piece That Completed It

Just when victory seemed close, disaster struck: one section was missing a single piece. Dowdle stepped in and sent the final piece, restoring the set. Friends and family built an 8-foot-by-29.5-foot Styrofoam table in his garage. Salas literally suspended himself from the ceiling to place the pieces. The final assembly took nine hours and occupied his entire three-car garage.

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