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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Leila Jordan with visuals by Kendrick Brinson

‘They’re gonna make me cry’: I competed at a speed puzzling championship

Hannah Doyle Ravensburger Conner
A group of people working on a large puzzle.
A group works on an 18,240-piece Ravensburger puzzle for fun at the 2026 USA Jigsaw Nationals and Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, on 29 March 2026. Photo by Kendrick Brinson Photograph: Kendrick Brinson/The Guardian

A PhD student in Berkeley. A 12-year-old in Texas. A content creator in Washington. An undergrad at Stanford. A former math teacher turned homeschool mom in Texas. After a three-day competition in Atlanta, Georgia, these people became national champions for a burgeoning hobby: speed jigsaw puzzling.

I have been a lifelong jigsaw puzzle lover. But in recent years, I have observed the quintessential way to slowly pass time transform into a competitive sport. So I traveled to the USA Jigsaw Nationals to test my skill against the best puzzlers in the country.

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