Herald tale of puzzle disaster for John makes global headlines

JIGSAW king John Dyson has become an international hit after the Sidmouth Herald’s tale of puzzle disaster made headlines across the globe.

We revealed last week how granddad-of-seven John, 70, was left in pieces when the world’s biggest jigsaw - he’d spent months painstakingly putting together - fell apart moments before he was set to finish it.

The yarn has since become a hit with British national newspapers, even bagging a slot on the front page of the Sunday Telegraph, and has been featured and discussed on television and radio.

Manor Road resident John’s story even made it as far afield as China and India.

“I hope the publicity can in-turn reflect well on Sidmouth,” said John who last week showed off the completed 32,000 piece puzzle for a Herald photo he has sent to manufacturer Ravensburger.

John had only just stored the puzzle away in his attic when subsequent media interest meant he had to reassemble it several times.

More than 11,000 segments ended up in a heap on the ground in September as John tried to prop up the project he’d spent 340 hours putting together. It took him and extra 50 hours to pick up the pieces and re-complete the puzzle.