Tangle-resistant decorative lighting assembly

A tangle-resistant decorative lighting assembly having first, second, third and fourth sides that define a rectangular display area, the lighting assembly comprising:

• a power plug adjacent a first corner formed at the first and fourth sides of the rectangular display area;
• a power receptacle adjacent a second corner formed at the first and second sides of the rectangular display area;
• a first power wire in electrical connection with the power plug and the power receptacle, and defining the first side of the rectangular display area of the lighting assembly;
• a plurality of lamp assemblies distributed within the rectangular display area;
• a plurality of 22AWG reinforced intermediate wires electrically connecting the plurality of lamp assemblies, each of the plurality of 22AWG reinforced intermediate wires electrically connecting a pair of the plurality of lamp assemblies and extending in a direction from the first side of the rectangular display area to the third side of the rectangular display area, the plurality of 22AWG reinforced intermediate wires connected to the plurality of lamp assemblies forming a plurality of rows of the plurality of 22AWG reinforced intermediate wires connected to the plurality of lamp assemblies, each row of the plurality of 22AWG reinforced intermediate wires extending from the first side of the rectangular display area to the third side of the rectangular display area and connecting a group of the plurality of lamp assemblies in each of the rows of the plurality of 22AWG reinforced intermediate wires, each of the plurality of 22AWG reinforced intermediate wires including an internal reinforcing strand, none of the plurality of 22AWG reinforced intermediate wires having an external reinforcing strand or other reinforcing structure;
• a plurality of mechanical-connection cords, each of the plurality of mechanical-connection cords extending from the first side of the rectangular display area to the third side of the rectangular display area and connecting the group of lamp assemblies of the plurality of lamp assemblies to form a plurality of rows of the plurality of mechanical-connection cords, none of the plurality of mechanical-connection cords including wire conductors, and each of the rows of the plurality of mechanical-connection cords directly mechanically connected to less than all of the plurality of lamp assemblies of the group of the plurality of lamp assemblies of each row of the plurality of 22AWG reinforced intermediate wires connected to the plurality of lamp assemblies, and each row of the plurality of mechanical-connection cords is adjacent to a row of the plurality of 22AWG reinforced intermediate wires connected to the plurality of lamp assemblies, thereby forming the rectangular display area with alternating rows of the plurality of mechanical-connection cords and the plurality of 22AWG reinforced intermediate wires connected to the plurality of lamp assemblies.