Well, friends, I am happy to report that after FIVE long months of battle, the 6000 piece beast has been conquered!
All of December I struggled to get ANY pieces in, but my college daughter was coming home for Christmas and all of my hopes were pinned on her. I told her, “I am NOT bringing this thing into 2021. You gotta end this NOW.”
And end it she did. With me and my middle-aged eyes standing helplessly by, this kid effortlessly snapped those last pieces into place mere hours before Christmas dinner. I may or may not have run around the house screaming, “It’s a Christmas Miracle!! It’s a Christmas Miracle!” like a crazy person.
Or like a person that has just made her entire family eat every meal standing around the kitchen island for five months because there was a 6000 piece puzzle on the dining table.
It now has a coat of glue on it and is waiting for me to figure out how in the world I’m going to make a frame for it so I can hang it up as a reminder to NEVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN. 
P.S. Almost forgot! ONE missing piece. I was hopeful for a minute that one of my prankster family members had stolen it as a joke, but alas, unless they are REALLY playing the long game here, it actually appears to be gone. 
Janene
Ronda Yoder
If you don’t want to hang it with a missing piece, you might do what I have done. Scan that part of the box, print it out and cut out the shape that’s missing, glue to some cardboard, and stick it in place… A tad obsessive, but definitely doable with such a solid color piece as the one missing.
Janene Dutt
That is brilliant…thank you for the idea!! Janene