USA Jigsaw Nationals 2024
At the end of March, I had the pleasure of participating in the USA Jigsaw Puzzle Association National Championships.
Some brief history - the USA Jigsaw Puzzle Association was formed in 2020 by 5 motivated puzzlers. They are the official American liaison to the World Jigsaw Puzzle Federation to help puzzlers compete at Worlds. Their first national event was held in 2022 and boasted hundreds of participants, multiple vendors and a packed schedule of activities along with speed puzzling competitions for individuals, pairs and teams.
But this year, they really outdid themselves. Competitors for the pairs more than doubled, and individual competitors tripled. Even then, it sold out in under 1 week! Watch out, ESPN! Speed puzzling has arrived! And yet, Nationals was about so much more than just speed puzzling. There was an epic swag bag, Q&A Panels, artist signings, collaboration on a 51,300 piece puzzle, photo booths, and puzzle chess
Puzzle Warehouse was a sponsor in 2022 and again in 2024, and I had the pleasure of meeting our Ambassador Coordinator Susan Way and her daughter, Rebekah. I got a Puzzle Warehouse staff t-shirt which I wear with pride, and I also got to spend some time with fellow ambassadors - Marwa, Gail and Robin!
While I have always loved puzzles of all kinds, 2020 was a turning point for me. Puzzles became a major outlet for me, and I made friends all over the world through my Instagram account. The best part of Nationals was that it brought so many people together. People I have called friends for years but never got to spend time in person yet! It was a complete whirlwind, the best weekend. Puzzle people are the kindest and most inclusive and supportive people I have ever met.
But let’s talk about the puzzles. The USA Jigsaw Puzzle Association and Ravensburger, the main sponsor providing all of the puzzles and sponsoring the livestream, worked together to provide all NEW, unreleased puzzles for the competition. The 4 puzzles used in the final round for individual, pairs and teams were by some of my very favorite puzzle artists!
The team event featured two 1000 piece puzzles, by Dean MacAdam and Elspeth McLean. While these are not yet available for wide release, ALL OF THEIR PUZZLES are amazing, so please check them out.
Dean MacAdam attended the 2022 competition where his puzzle, Goldilocks Gets Caught, was used in the team championship event. The fastest team of 4 completed that in 56 minutes 15 seconds! Besides Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, Dean has illustrated other classic fairy tale stories as well, such as Alice in Wonderland (Most Everyone is Mad), Hansel and Gretel (Hansel and Gretel Beware!) and The Three Little Pigs (Look Out Little Pigs!). This year Dean unveiled his newest puzzle, Busy Birdies, and they sure were busy! This was, in my opinion, harder than Goldilocks, yet the fastest team completed it about 20 seconds faster, in 55 minutes 54 seconds.
But it turned out, the 2nd puzzle was even more challenging. Elspeth McLean is known for her mandala paintings. Her first puzzle image was One Dot a A Time, a whopping 1500 pieces. I completed this in 2021 and the title was so fitting! It was difficult to figure out which dots belonged to which mandala, even with the colors being arranged in a sort of gradient.
When her 2nd puzzle came out, Radiating Rainbow Mandalas, I was ready for more dots! While this puzzle has 2000 pieces, I remember it feeling a little easier. That may be because I have now become a mandala connoisseur… Or because the colors are sharper and the individual mandalas have more distinct patterns.
Despite this experience with her puzzles, I knew we would be in for a major challenge. We definitely felt overwhelmed and temporarily stunned when we set our eyes upon Celestial Constellations. It is a beautiful image but was really a struggle to speed puzzle. Still, I will forever cherish my signed copy, and some day I will bring it back out to enjoy at a leisurely pace! Fun fact - she actually paints the mandala stones and background, but the puzzles are photographs of her work. Mind blown!
Here is a picture of our team after coming in 8th place out of 50 teams. From left to right, Me, Simmie, Tiffany and Gail
Our guest artist for the pairs competition was the lovely Demelsa Haughton. I am a BIG fan of hers as well. I own all of her Ravensburger puzzles! I practiced with the recently released Rabbit Recital, and have also enjoyed previous releases such as Happy Halloween, If Fish Could Walk, and Novel Avenue. They have the cutest details, and I find the art so pleasant and soothing. Sweet Street was an absolute delight to puzzle and I can’t wait until it is released more widely this fall, so EVERYONE can enjoy it. Her art is always just so cute and this was no exception.
Here is a picture of my pairs partner, Simmie and me, posing with Demelsa.
And to finish up the weekend, the individual event puzzle was created by returning USAJPA artist Nathanael Mortensen. In 2022 they unveiled his puzzle, Beautiful Mushrooms.
Here is a picture of our team hard at work on it.
Nathanael continues to grow in popularity, with the Happy Sheep Yarn Shop puzzle in 1000 pieces, and the 1500-piece Twilight in the Treetops. The final was his first 500 piece release, Air Balloon Valley. This was a real delight to puzzle and I think played to my strengths well. And as a bonus, I got to sit next to Robin! Always nice to see a friendly familiar face!
Here is a picture of us together, and another picture of me with Nathanael.
The weekend was an absolute blast, exhausting in the best way. I’m so glad I have an amazing community of people who share my passion for puzzling! I am also a little relieved this is behind me for now, because I have a whole lot of puzzles I am looking forward to leisurely assembling. More on that next month!
Cheers!
Alyssa
It was lovely sharing a finals table with you too! I enjoyed your post!
Awesome recap. Nationals was a blast!!
What Fun!