I recently discovered something I didn’t even know existed: speed jigsaw puzzle competitions. YouTube popped up some videos by Karen Puzzles about the 2023 International Championships, and I started watching out of curiosity. Three things happened.
First, I was charmed by the people and the event. I’m not into sports or competitions, so I was surprised that puzzle racing appealed to me. Second, I got interested in jigsaw puzzles — how long they take to solve, what makes them hard or easy, their history, and the various kinds that are out there. Last, and most important, I learned five valuable lessons that apply to things besides jigsaw puzzles.
There’s joy to be had in just participating. The audience cheered as puzzles were completed. They cheered for first place, fourth place, tenth place, seventeenth place…it didn’t matter how far down the list the finish was. The puzzlers themselves were often jubilant just to have finished before the clock ran out. I’m sure there were people who were disappointed with how they did, but there were many who were just happy to be there, to be a part of things. I could feel their joy, and it reminded me it’s not the winning, it’s the doing that matters.
There’s more than one way to tackle a challenge. Different competitors approached the same puzzle with different strategies. Some focused on getting the border done. Some started in the middle. Others dove into the part that looked easiest. Some went for the hardest part first. There was no right or wrong way. They did what works best for them.
It’s best to compete against yourself. Even though Karen is a fast puzzler, she set goals for herself that weren’t about winning but rather about doing her best. When she made it to the finals, she shot for a specific time (finishing in under an hour) rather than a specific place. Since she has no control over how everyone else does, it makes sense to compete with herself instead.
Sometimes tasks that look the same aren’t. In the each semifinal heat, the four-person teams chose the two puzzles they solved from the same set of four puzzles. In the first heat, the easiest puzzle to solve proved to be a skyline illustration of Berlin. When the Paris version of the Berlin puzzle was a choice in the second heat, many teams chose it, expecting it to be as easy, too. Unfortunately, the Paris puzzle had large blocks of solid color with a single texture, one of the hardest things there is to assemble, and took much longer to solve than the Berlin puzzle had. Though they were from the same set of designs and seemed similar in appearance, these two puzzles were actually quite different in difficulty.
Inclusive events are the best. There was a woman with a baby in her lap puzzling away with her partner in the pairs semifinals. I loved this so much. What other sport allows you to hold a baby while you compete? Kids were allowed to be part of the teams, so all ages were involved. Seeing so many different ages and body types and people from different nations puzzling together was heart-warming. It really looked like fun.
Since discovering the jigsaw puzzle championship, I have watched many related videos, as well as bought and solved some jigsaw puzzles myself. I’ll post more about my puzzle experiences later. For now, I am just marveling at how much you can learn about life by exploring an activity you haven’t thought about before.
What’s your favorite sporting competition or event? What has it taught you?
In case you are interested, here are the Karen Puzzles videos that I watched:
I went to the WORLD JIGSAW PUZZLE CHAMPIONSHIPS
The World Jigsaw Puzzle Championships almost destroyed me
Did we win the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship??? (Her team of four was first in one of the semifinals and had a shot at winning the title.)
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