A dedicated jigsaw fan is so proud at completing one of the world’s biggest puzzles she has glued the 24,000-piece mural to her living room wall.
Civil servant Amanda Warrington, 50, spent more than 1,000 hours over 17 months completing the 14ft x 5ft brain teaser.
She was so delighted with the finished picture that she has permanently stuck it to her lounge wall with super-strong No More Nails adhesive.
Amanda, of Yate near Bristol, said: “I didn’t really know what to do with it when I first started, but it was so pretty I thought it would look good on my wall.
“I used No More Nails so it’s not coming off any time soon. If I move, I’ll have to take the wall with me.”
The jigsaw – called Life: The Great Challenge – was the biggest in the world when Amanda’s sister bought it for her from a specialist internet supplier.
Weighing 26lbs (two stone), the image contains a brightly-coloured montage of animals, fish, boats, hot air balloons, an underwater city and planets.
It has since been eclipsed by a 32,000-piece 42lbs monster called Double Retrospect, which was launched in February 2011 and is currently the world’s biggest.
Amanda, who works for the Department of Work and Pensions and lives alone, said: “I love a challenge. I must have done around 50 puzzles.
“I’m working on one at the minute which is a cruise-ship with spaces for you to put lights in it.
“They do take a while, but when you’re finished, you get such a great sense of satisfaction.”
She worked on the puzzle after work and at weekends and she reckons she spent well over 1,000 hours stooped over it.
After completing it she assembled it into quarters and stuck to her wall with the DIY adhesive.
She said: “It’s all so beautiful. I do like the fishes – they’re so bright and vibrant, and when the light shines on it, they just glow.”
Puzzle fanatic Amanda Warrington has no plans to attempt the world’s largest jigsaw, the 32,000 piece Double Retrospect.
She said: “I’m not going to do it simply because I do not have enough room.
“It seems a shame to pack it all away after spending so long making it, and I simply don’t have the space on any of my walls for a bigger one.”
Amanda managed to complete her 24,000-piece jigsaw by working on it as often as she could and admitted to staying up until 3am on some occasions.
She said: “I would do half an hour here and there whenever I got home from work.
“I’d spend much longer at the weekend. I have to admit sometimes I was staying up until 3am because I was getting addicted.
“My friends are amazed and think I’m a little mad as well. They don’t understand how I have so much patience.
“It gets to a point where you become excited to get it finished but it’s an odd feeling now that it’s not there to be done.”
She was given the puzzle by her sister, who paid #150 for it.
Amanda said: “I saw it on the news and my sister bought it for me over the internet two years ago because the family all know what a puzzle addict I am.”
