Speedy Canadian jigsaw puzzlers compete in Edmonton-based event

Nearly 200 people from across Canada took part in the Canadian Jigsaw Associations Alberta regionals hoping to piece together a win.

How long does it take the average person to complete a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle?

For Kirsty Williams, who may be far from an average puzzler, the answer is 29 minutes and 22 seconds. That time won her first place at the Canadian Jigsaw Puzzle Association (CJPA) individual competition.

She was part of an avid group of dissectologists, a term for those who enjoy assembling jigsaw puzzles specifically, at the CJPA’s Alberta regionals on Saturday.

“(That’s) the fastest I’ve ever done a Eurographics puzzle … I practiced quite a lot on my lunch breaks at work for the last couple of weeks,” said Williams, who travelled from Manitoba to compete.

The event featured 30 teams, 60 pairs and 70 individuals at Edmonton’s Ridgewood Community League piecing together 500 to 1,000-piece Eurographics jigsaw puzzles at top speeds.

The puzzling community, CJPA co-president Amanda Belanger says, is relatively small in Canada – about 200 puzzlers in the association nationwide – but “exploded” in popularity after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“A lot of us saw the World Jigsaw Puzzle Federation and their competitions in Spain, and it inspired some of us to try and get things going in Canada. We started in 2022, we just started with some virtual competitions once a month, and it just grew and grew,” she said.

“The coolest thing is the friends you meet. I’ve never met better people in my life than the puzzle people that I’ve met.”

Williams, who only moved to Canada last year, said the community and the act of puzzling itself have eased the transition.

“I’m quite an anxious person, so it helps switch that off to just be really focused on something,” she said.

The CJPA also hosts yearly national competitions. Regional wins are not a qualifier for those puzzles, and Belanger says anybody is welcome.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall