Ellen DeGeneres Takes on an Epic 4,000-Piece Puzzle While Social Distancing Due to Coronavirus

Ellen DeGeneres is self-quarantining in Los Angeles with wife Portia de Rossi as the coronavirus continues to spread in the United States

Ellen DeGeneres‘ social-distancing activities aren’t going quite as planned.

The talk show host, 62, documented her attempt to complete a 4,000-piece puzzle on Tuesday — and the journey was filled with hilarious twists and turns.

“Okay, so I’m bored, I’m sure everybody is bored,” DeGeneres said in one Instagram clip. “I remembered I have a 4,000 piece puzzle … so this is what I’m going to do to keep busy. It’s going to keep me busy for at least an hour. I haven’t done [a puzzle] in a long time, but it shouldn’t be that hard.”

The complicated puzzle is a rendering of a painting called “Galleria di vedute di Roma moderna” by Giovanni Paolo Pannini.

“Let’s see how this goes,” she captioned the first video.

But while DeGeneres quickly realized she was missing a piece of the puzzle — literally.

“Well, guess what? I attempted to do the puzzle — because when I set out to do something I finish it,” she said in a second clip. “I counted the pieces — there’s only 3,999, there’s not 4,000 pieces. I don’t know about you, but when you get to the end of the puzzle and you feel so good and accomplished but then there’s one piece missing, it’s not fun. It’s not fair. So yeah, I’m not going to do it.”

In the clip, a disappointed DeGeneres is seen collecting the pieces and dumping them back in the box.

“Portia suggested that I read a book,” she added. “I’ll let you know what I choose and what happens.”“So much for that plan,” she wrote.

But before she could bust out a new novel, the comedian made a miraculous discovery.

“This is crazy! I put the box away, I put everything away, and then I’m sitting over there and I find the piece, the piece that’s missing, underneath the table,” she said, holding up the piece in question. “I guess I’m back to doing the puzzle. This is crazy.”

Sitting back down to do the massive puzzle, DeGeneres wrote, “Day is saved! Now the real work begins.”

But if you thought the journey was over, boy were you wrong. DeGeneres was then tasked with the tedious job of turning over each individual puzzle piece before she could begin assembling the picture.

“The hardest part is turning each and every one of these pieces over. This is time-consuming and nobody seems to want to help me,” she said. “Ellen ‘Do It’ DeGeneres is my name.”

She checked in later, showing the progress she had made in turning the pieces over — but she admitted she was feeling a bit discouraged.

“Okay, here’s what happened. As you can see, I’ve turned over a lot. This took me hours,” she said. “What I realized was, 4,000 pieces is ridiculous. I don’t a table big enough. Who does? Whoever gave us this puzzle, and I’m going to find out who, this is ridiculous.”

Ultimately, DeGeneres decided to abandon the project.

“I’m not going to do it. I’m not stupid. It’s Ellen ‘Not Stupid’ DeGeneres,” she said. “What a waste this was. All right, on to something else.”

DeGeneres is social distancing in Los Angeles with wife Portia de Rossi as the coronavirus continues to spread in the United States.

As of Wednesday, there are at least 5,881 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, and at least 107 patients have died, according to a New York Times database. Many states and cities have closed schools, including New York City, the largest school district in the country. States have also begun closing restaurants and bars to help encourage individuals to stay home and avoid large group gatherings. Worldwide, there are now 204,255 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 8,244 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins database.

As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from CDC, WHO, and local public health departments and visit our coronavirus hub.