When new customers get a puzzle with an irregular edge and they don't know it, it can be quite disconcerting to open the box, start in with the usual line-of-attack of sorting out the straight edge pieces, and then... not find nearly enough edge pieces.
For example, this morning we received a concerned customer email from L. S.,
I purchased your Bierstadt Valley of the Yosemite puzzle for Christmas . This puzzle is a bit of a dilemma for me. There are 60 pieces is this puzzle that have beautifully cut semi circles in them. There are only 10 pieces in my puzzle box that would mate with these 60. I am guessing that many of these 60 pieces must be edge pieces but my puzzle crew are not going for that. Semi circles cut out of the edge??? Really??? No Way!!!! That is what I am hearing.
On the other hand, you die-hard puzzlers out there are looking for the surprise and extra challenge of irregular edges you can't quite predict.
The compromise we've come to is to show the irregular edge on older puzzles, but not to show it when puzzles first come out. But, as always, we do try to note in the product description if there's an irregular edge.
And if you're giving one of our puzzles as a gift - well, you might warn them :).