Below are highlights from the most recent World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship. In the New York Times, Derrick Bryson Taylor reports on the competitors getting ready for the fourth edition of this contest to be held in Spain this September.
"When I'm here practicing speed puzzling, just alone in my apartment, it makes me feel connected to a broader community, in a way that I had never really felt before with puzzling," says competitor 33-year-old Karen Kavett of Los Angeles. "For a long time, it was just a solitary activity. But with this, you have a benchmark or a statistic, something in common where you can compare yourself to other people around the world."
From the NYT:
No two puzzlers are the same. Here is one of the most common strategies: Start by flipping the pieces so that they are image side up, then organize them into sections based on color, pattern, object or border. From there, assemble the edges and fill in the regions you feel most comfortable with until the puzzle is complete.
Alejandro Clemente León, 28, the reigning individual world champion for two years in a row, clinched last year's title by speeding through a 500-piece puzzle in just under 38 minutes. Like Ms. Kavett, he starts by flipping over the pieces, but he avoids doing the edges first.
Previously:
• Comedian pranked with recursive jigsaw puzzles
• Video of a jigsaw puzzle factory