In the frame
A young sea lion twists head-down through the water, trailing a loop of silver bubbles. Sunbeams fall from the surface at the top, and a band of kelp grows along the bottom.
This dive cuts the picture into 15 square tiles on a 5 × 3 board and shuffles them. Swap two tiles at a time until the picture is whole; tiles that reach their home spot lock.
Dive plan
- Start with the easy part: the sea lion and its ring of bubbles.
- Save for last: the blue water above the kelp. About 38% of the frame has little detail, mostly on the left side, and those pieces look alike.
- Swap each tile straight to its home spot; it locks there, and the tile you displaced is the next one to place.
- If every swap sends a tile home, 14 swaps or fewer finish all 15 tiles.
- Place tiles with an outline, a fin or an edge first; the plain ones are easier once only a few spots remain.
- Fix the corners first: they are the easiest tiles to place by eye.
Colours of the picture
Main colours, measured from the picture's pixels: teal (38%), sky blue (15%), slate grey (13%) and white (12%).
- teal38%
- sky blue15%
- slate grey13%
- white12%
- charcoal12%
- grey10%
How deep it goes
Depth 3 of 5 — a steady dive.
Reef dives sit in the middle: enough pieces to need a plan, never so many that a phone screen feels crowded.