LONDON, ONT. -- People are finding all sorts of ways to keep busy during the current crisis, but one activity that seems to be on top of many lists.
While stuck indoors, people are buying new puzzles online and revisiting old puzzles they may have forgotten about.
Working on puzzles, or 'puzzling' as it is affectionately referred to, is a great outlet.
Traditional puzzles are one thing, but a London company has taken the art of puzzling to a completely new level.
Trapdoor London Escape Rooms had to shut their doors amid the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March.
Due to the closure, the company decided to temporarily board up the front of their building, not unlike several stores in the downtown area.
With many people decorating their windows in the city, this gave the owners of the business an idea.
Rather than simply leaving the board covering their location bare, they opened it up to the community and created a huge art project.
The wooden board has since been cut into over-sized interlocking puzzle pieces and are being delivered for anyone in London who are interested in painting the piece.
"So far, we have made over 160 interlocking puzzle pieces that will be linked together on our storefront-turned-canvas. We have been delivering them at no cost around the city to participants," says co-owner, Valerie Charlebois.
Together with co-owners Derek Noon and Chris Toth, Valerie has been busy delivering pieces around London.
Each participate will have one week to complete their painted piece. Along with delivery, the set date and times are put in place for the piece to be picked up.
"Our goal is to assemble the panels on Sunday, May 10."
Trapdoor London will even include an Easter egg within the finished puzzle, hinting toward a new theme to their escape rooms.
"If there is any silver lining to this situation for us is that is has given us a bit of time to focus on our own creating and planning," says Charlebois.
Although most of the puzzle pieces are just about gone, photos of the puzzle pieces in progress are being shared on social media.