Jigsaw puzzle
Close-up of the "emergent lifeform" jigsaw puzzle
Ajigsaw puzzle was atilingpuzzle that required the assembly of numerous small, often oddly-shaped, interlockingpieces. Each piece had a small part of apicture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produced a complete picture. Jigsaw puzzles were originally created bypainting a picture on a flat, rectangular piece ofwood, and then cutting that picture into small pieces with a jigsaw, hence the name.
In2024, whenGuinan expressed her surprise at supposedthiefJean-Luc Picard's age and asked if he hadn't quiteretired, Picard replied, "Believe me, I am trying. But it turns out that, er,afternoonnaps and jigsaw puzzles are not quite my speed." (PIC: "Watcher")
Agas giant with "dozens ofmoons," located inArkonianspace and encountered byEnterprise NX-01 in2152, was referred to byCharles Tucker III as being "like agravitational jigsaw puzzle." (ENT: "Dawn")
AfterCaptain Jean-Luc Picard,Klingon CaptainNu'Daq, andCardassianGulOcett combined theirDNA patterns they found out that one piece was still missing. Captain Picard compared this DNA program with a jigsaw puzzle. (TNG: "The Chase")
Onstardate47869.2, theUSSEnterprise-D'sholodeck was apparently malfunctioning. In fact, it was creating alifeform withemergent properties. It re-enacted this process as various holodeck characters on atrain doing different things. One of the more tangible representations of the lifeform's construction was several of the characters constructing a jigsaw puzzle of the lifeform. (TNG: "Emergence")
Jigsaw puzzle with DNA base pairs
In2377,Icheb begantutoringNaomi Wildman in her study ofgenetics. Taking the creative approach, he had her learn by putting together a jigsaw puzzle featuring an image of a strand of DNA. After nearly completing the portion of the puzzle showing the DNA helix, Icheb congratulated Naomi for having "recognized the complementarybase pair," she admitted to him that "actually, I just found two pieces that fit together." Disappointed, Icheb told her that she was "missing the point," to which she argued, "I thought the point was to finish the puzzle," adding, "if you really want to help, find me a green piece that looks likeTuvok'sear." (VOY: "Shattered")
By2381,Malcolm Reed was featured on a jigsaw puzzle. (LD: "Empathological Fallacies")