Jigsaw puzzle solving is a solo pastime activity that most individuals don't strive to elevate to a level of competition. But in an odd turn of events, an offbeat international tournament in Spain was given the Guinness World Records title of the largest jigsaw puzzle competition in the world.
According to Guinness World Records, for a weekend every year, the sunny city of Valladolid, Spain, turns into the capital of puzzling. Pro-puzzlers go head-to-head, chasing time and competing against each other in a heated race to crown the best puzzler in the world.
The competition was organised in three categories: groups, pairs, and solos, with two days of non-stop puzzling to find one champion.
During the weekend between June 23 and 26, 2022, a total of 2,293 jigsaw puzzle aficionados from 44 countries united at the Cupula del Milenio in Valladolid, Spain, to test their skills in what is officially the largest jigsaw puzzle competition ever.
The international contest is organised and supervised by the World Jigsaw Puzzle Federation, chaired by Alfonso Alvarez-Ossorio.
The fascinating aspect of this event is that women make up the majority of attendees-more than 70%, in fact.
"The Scandinavian nations are really flourishing this year," said one of the event organisers, Charlie Kendall.
"And now all the American teams are sitting together. It's nice to see them like this because, in the first edition, the only Americans competing were a family of four."
Kristin Thuv, a Norwegian puzzler, ended up becoming the tournament's most popular participant.
"The most interesting strategy is Kristin Thuv, a total crowd favourite." For the first fifteen minutes, she didn't put a single piece together: she just looked at them. I thought she had lost her touch. Then, she started putting pieces together," said Charlie Kendall.
