We are sometimes asked to give suggestions on what type of Stave Puzzle to give as a gift. Whether it is for the winter holidays, birthday or other special occasion, your puzzling friend or loved one will no doubt appreciate any Stave that they receive.
That being said, here are 3 suggestions to help you to further refine your search:
1) What type of Staves do they enjoy doing?
The three most popular types of Stave Puzzles are Traditionals, Teasers and Tricks. We won’t get into the differences in this article as that has been discussed here in a previous post. However, 
our first suggestion is if you have the opportunity to see the collection of the recipient try to see what types of puzzles they have the most of. You may need to do a little a detective work if you are not too familiar with Stave Puzzles. We find that most puzzlers seem to really enjoy one type or another, so if they have a lot of one “variety”, say teasers, there is a good chance it will be a winner of a present.
2) Do they have certain interests?
Aside from puzzle type, themes are another area of interest that we often find collectors tend to gravitate towards.
For example, animals are a very common puzzle theme that is popular. We also have a number of collectors who seek out paintings from masters, particularly impressionists such as Renoir or Matisse. Impressionist painting often make for particularly hard puzzles often due to the style of the brush strokes being fairly abstract in nature. 
Other popular themes of puzzles that we have seen over the years include cartoon-like images, landscapes and images related to historical events and, of course, holidays. If you don’t have access to the type of puzzles they buy, another good clue is the art they have hanging in their home. There is a good chance they will have similar tastes in puzzles as well!
3) Irregular edges and cutouts
If you in the market for a Stave as a gift, then your recipient probably already appreciates the quality of the puzzles. However, one thing that many collectors also like are puzzles with irregular edges or cutouts. These can be extremely intricate cuts that follow the line of the clouds or a skyline. Sometimes there are even “holes” in the middle of the puzzle which makes it more difficult. We generally have found that these type of puzzles are more desirable as well. 
So keeping that all in mind you might want to consider the shape of the puzzle may be important. Irregular edges (puzzles that have non-straight edges) are very popular as they add an extra challenge to the puzzle. Also puzzles that have a lot of interesting figurals are also very popular.
At the end of the day, if you are able to do a little sleuthing about the type of puzzles your friend or family member likes, it will make the process a lot easier for you as there are many to choose from, and you will no doubt have an even happier Stave collector thanking you!