Going From Average Puzzler to Speed Puzzler - Can I Do It?
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- čas přidán 15. 08. 2023
- In this video I start preparing for an exciting jigsaw puzzle competition coming to Ontario called The Great Canadian Puzzle Challenge, organized by The Canadian Jigsaw Puzzle Association and sponsored by Puzzles Canada and Ravensburger. This speed puzzling competition will be my first large event and I'm facing several challenges as I begin to practice for this puzzle race. See what obstacles I need to overcome as an average puzzler attempting to improve her puzzle time.
Jigsaw Puzzle Competition:
The Great Canadian Puzzle Challenge
October 1st, 2023
Georgetown, Ontario
#jigsawpuzzles #puzzletime #puzzles
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Hi Sandra! Speed puzzling is so much different than casual puzzling... I'm learning it as well. I'm going to take part in the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship in Spain this year so I am practicing for it. I'm also amazed that some people can piece together a 500-piece puzzle within like 30 min. Alejandro is incredible. I have no idea how he does it. But, perhaps, it's because he's been puzzling all his life and has taken part in many competitions, so he's simply good at it. My personal best time is 1 hour and 5 min, but it usually takes me around 1 hour and 17 min to build a puzzle. I'd like to get below 1 hour but that's tough... I'm trying to be realistic, and I think it will take more than a few months of practicing to reach that goal. Of course, it also depends on the puzzle image.
I have some tips for you. When you start speed puzzling and you dump all the pieces on your table, while flipping them, arrange them around in a rainbow shape so that you had space in front of you to puzzle. Also, at the same time you can separate the border and/or do a quick sorting. Next, not always doing the border first is the right decision. Try to do several puzzles with border last. Also, when you have a big section of the same colour or texture, do sort the pieces by shape and learn to piece a puzzle together by looking at the shapes of the pieces solely. Now, you can actually practice that with other, larger puzzles. Train your eye to notice shapes.
Did you try to build the same puzzle several times to see if you can beat your time? That's actually cool. I did that once and eventually I beat my time for around 30 min. Try it! It's a cool experience. I learnt a lot on it.
Do you ever build landscape puzzles? If not, you should build a few... That's a nice practice too, to build a puzzle with an image that is not in your style.
Recently, I saw a cool video on how to learn speed puzzling (on "Puzzle with Emilia" on CZcams), and that girl gave an interesting tip: try to speed puzzle really small puzzles like 100-300 pieces and slowly get to a 1000 pieces. Yes, you should also practice speed puzzling 1000-pieces at one sitting. That will help you develop perseverance. It's not easy to focus on a puzzle for so long, but during competitions you often have to go beyond your comfort zone.
I'm sure that the more you practice the better you'll be at speed puzzling 🙂I hope you find my tips useful. Happy puzzling! Marta (from @marta.puzzles on Instagram)
Hi Marta. Thank you so much for the speed puzzling tips. Those are some great suggestions that I will defintiely need to try. I too saw the video from Puzzle with Emilia and have started to practice with small pieces and will try some of the other strategies she suggested. Sorting in a rainbow format also sounds like a good idea, it just might work for me. Best of luck at the World Championships.
Hi. I just found you after following The Puzzle Championship in Spain. You puzzle times are great, a lot better than mine 🤣. Have subscribed and look forward to following your channel 😁🇬🇧
I once did a 100 piece puzzle entirely on the back side of the puzzle. I didn't even know what the puzzle was of. It was a surprise once I flipped it over.
Very impressive! I've never done that before.
I can't wait to meet everyone in October! I totally know what you mean about chaos puzzling, all the CJPA competitions so far I find I get so stressed and anxious when the puzzle pieces are all over the place. I am practising on speeding up my "flipping the pieces over" time and sort time. I need to practice texture puzzling too, things like fur and grass/leaves are always things I seem to struggle with. I am going to have fun and hang out with puzzlers, definitely not in the competitive league!
My next step is to practice the flip and sorting process also. That seems to slow me down in the beginning. Looking foward to seeing you at the event.
I am a pretty fast puzzler but I get too stressed when I'm on a time limit and that takes the fun out of it for me. I've done three speed puzzle competitions and did pretty well. There were small prizes, we didn't compete for money, so it was less stressful and I loved meeting new puzzlers. When I'm speed puzzling, for me, it really helps to sort everything early on to stay organized. If you have team members, everyone needs to have a job so there's no miscommunication on who is doing what section, and the whole puzzle gets worked on at once.
I agree team puzzling requires a different stratgey than individual speed puzzling. And commuinication is very important.
Just heard about speed puzzling this week and then binge watched all of the world championship vods as my introduction to it. Your's is the first video CZcams recommended for me to watch after those. Some good inspiration to pick up a puzzle and see how it goes. Keep at it!
Thank you so much.
I don't have any inclination to do speed puzzling and would not enter any competitions. I did enter the BOTYP challenges as they were for fun rather than anything serious. I believe the third one will be in September this year. I admire anyone who is willing to go through that nerve wracking experience. I wish you well in the competition and hope that you will enjoy the experience however you do in it. 😃
Thank you. I have seen the BOTYP challenge but I haven't participated as of yet. It looks like fun.
Hello, are there any events where we don’t have to speed puzzle?
@@HanksWay In Canada I don't know of any right now. In the USA they have Puzzle Jam South held September 8th in Atlanta GA. I've never been but the website says it's a three day event for puzzle lovers and collectors. I think the have one day for speed puzzling but it's not a speed puzzling event. More like a puzzling convention.
Good for you taking that leap to do something like speed puzzling. Sorry I don't have any tips for you. I've never done it, nor would I even think about doing it. I envy those who do speed puzzling, so I just watch. Even watching I get heart palpitations. LOL. I'm a very casual puzzler. My eyes are old and I have back issues, so I'm kind of up and down. I enjoy puzzling so much .I thought you had a nice variety in the puzzles you practiced with. I wish you the best of luck. I love the images behind you.
Thank you. I too envy those speed puzzlers especially those who can do it under 1 hour. I also get a little anxious when watching those events on CZcams. It's like watching your favourite sports team in the finals.
Would be a good video topic to show a good strategy in a very similar or gradient color area. When there are cca 100 similar pieces. Piece shape, joint shapes, joint numbers.... Once I make a puzzle with the back side, like a solid color puzzle, rehearsal for shape sorting.
I don't do gradient puzzles too often but I will need to practice and learn some good strategies for these types of puzzles. I've seen puzzlers do a puzzle just with the back side and that is very impressive. I will need to try that one time. It would definitely help with shape sorting and identification.
@@thepuzzlingcanadian Karen have a red solid color puzzle video. It is helpful.
Basicly each puzzle is 2 different puzzle, one from a normal side, one from the back. Hahah
This was very useful. I might watch it again
Happy to hear that. I appreciate the feedback. Thanks.
You are doing great! I wish to see you some day at World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship. I will be there this year not only competing but also as their live stream commentator. They invited me after they saw my ”how to practise for speed puzzle competition” video here in CZcams ☺️
Congratulations! That is great news. I watched your video and will definitely be using some of your tips. One day I hope to go to Worlds. Best of luck as you prepare for that event.
Don't under-estimate your abilities. I think you're amazing! Love your honesty.❤
Thank you for your encouragement.
lovely puzzles behind you... good luck at your competition... I puzzle like you I turn all the pieces up and pick out sections.... good luck with the chaos puzzling... I have no interest in speed puzzling but I would LOVE to go to a competition as an observer..... no matter how you do you will have a wonderful time.... glad you will take us along.. oHH I did notice you changed boards that you puzzled on , the green felt looked wrinkled wonder if the different boards effected your time...
Thank you. I do think that the green felt mat effected my time simply because of the colour. I usually like to puzzle on a cork board with a neutral colour. Makes it easier to identify pieces but this time I was at the cottage and did not have my regular cork board so I used the green felt.
Yes as Marta said above don’t obsess on the border pieces. I dump them out turn everything over sorting into piles of color first putting pieces together as I’m doing this if possible. My goal is to get pieces together I’m not concerned about doing it in a methodical regimented fashion. I’ll put together all the red pieces, then move on to yellow, blue etc and then when I have all these shapes I’ll start placing them and finding the border pieces that correspond with the shapes that way you’ll mostly have the filler section in between the main subject matter of the puzzle which might slow you down, they’re usually the darker or blue sky pieces. Good luck. 🍀 I might actually be in Canada 🇨🇦 at that time. I’ll find out some time this week.
Thank you.
I’m definitely not a speed puzzler, but it’s fun to watch 😊
Yes, I agree. It is fun to watch.
Well done! ❤️ Also my fastest time is 1 h 39 min, so our speed is quite similar. 🙂 But I haven't gotten any better in 6 months!! 🤣 I really have to take a good look at that video of Puzzle with Emilia and start training for real! 💪 Especially because I'm going to the Worlds in September and I'd love to finish my puzzle in time... 😅 Good luck and have fun! 🥰
Thank you and good luck to you during the Worlds in September. I hope you do well and finish in the 90 minutes.
I’m doing the teams and pairs event. Our goal is to be not last. Lol See you there!
😂 That’s an excellent goal! Looking forward to seeing you there.
I am so not a speed puzzler. I love to watch it, but I'm not fast. In anything really. However I did get the London Postcard from a local swap and decided to speed run it. I did it in 2.5 hrs. At one point I think I just fell into a good rhythm, but not necessarily a fast one! LOL I think puzzle chess would be fun, but as far as practicing for a competition, I will be a spectator.
I have London Postcard but haven't completed it yet. I suspect that my time will probably be the same as yours.
Speed puzzling is not my favorite. What I love most about puzzling is getting to know the art/image, and when speed puzzling there's no time to enjoy that 😉. But it's fun to do once in a while, and I would love to try a competition, just for fun, but unfortunately there are no speed puzzling competitions in my country 😔
Yes, I agree. When I casually puzzle I have plenty of time to enjoy the image which I like doing but speed puzzling is a whole different ball game.