SUN CITY, Ariz. — An 18,000-piece puzzle might never be completed, but it has linked dozens of residents of Sun City West who have spent more than 1,000 hours working on the map of the world.
About three-quarters of the puzzle have been assembled inside a room at the R.H. Johnson Library, and work continues despite the fact that many pieces appear to be missing.
"We knew there might be a possibility of missing pieces because this was donated to us, but we didn't realize this many would be gone," said Vince Micallef, R.H. Johnson Library director.
Micallef emailed the German company that manufactured the puzzle for help. But the business hasn't answered any of his messages.
"That's OK because the residents are still having a good time, and it really took a community effort," he said.
Earlier this summer, someone donated the puzzle, which was headed to a Friends of the Library sale. Instead, Micallef decided to use the puzzle as a project for residents.
Anywhere from two to 12 people could be found during that day working on the puzzle, recording more than 1,000 hours of work.
Mary Barney of Sun City West said she has spent 50 to 55 hours on the puzzle so far.
"I love puzzles anyway, and I knew this would be a challenge," she said. "And the camaraderie among everyone has been great, too."
Micallef predicts residents will run out of pieces in about another month.
Barney said they'll continue to work on the puzzle until then, and she said she's not upset that the entire puzzle might not be completed.
"It doesn't matter because we all had fun," she said. "Once we're finished, though, hopefully they'll keep it up so we can show the winter visitors what we did this summer."
Due to high participation with the puzzle, Micallef said he's planning on ordering a new puzzle with all the pieces in the box, either 24,000 or 32,000 pieces.
"We might as well go for broke," he said with laugh. "But honestly, just watching this community come together and solve this has been fantastic."
Information from: Daily News-Sun, http://www.dailynews-sun.com/