Our first speed puzzling event

For most of Puzzery's five years, I've been more comfortable building the company than talking about it. That has meant a lot of time behind a laptop or inside a production facility, slowly working through the problems that come with making personalized puzzles.

Most people first meet us through a Google search or a kind post from a stranger on Reddit. We've talked with thousands of customers online, but we've spent very little time introducing ourselves in person.

So this year, from August 14 to 16, we finally left our comfort zone and sponsored Portland Jigsaw Masters in Portland, Oregon. It was our first speed puzzling event, a full weekend behind a Puzzery booth, and the first time I had watched a room full of competitive puzzlers open one of our puzzles at the exact same time.

Apparently, I am not the only person who can talk about cardboard for an unreasonable amount of time. This was a wildly unexpected relief.

Getting out from behind the screen

Behind the scenes is kind of my happy place, so needing to stand in our booth and introducing Puzzery to real people felt a bit wild. People could hold our puzzles and tell me exactly what they thought. After the first few conversations though, I realized these our my people: folks who think about puzzles as much as I do.

We sponsored Portland Jigsaw Masters because I wanted Puzzery to play a larger part of the puzzle community, and part of that means saying hello.

The puzzle round that made me wildly nervous

Part of our sponsorship meant that we could submit a puzzle for one of the competition rounds. This sounded great until we submitted our first design and were told it was probably far too complicated.

Fair feedback - and my anxiety fully agreed. So, I reworked the design and prayed to the puzzle gods that what we submitted wouldn't be known as 'the worst puzzle in speed puzzling history'. On the day, more than 50 competitive puzzlers opened it at once, and under the unforgiving eyes of a clock. AKA, not a gentle way to learn whether our puzzle design would be a hit.

Fortunately, it went off without a hitch. Iryna Shvydchenko won the round, with Xin Phuah placing second. Even better, people came over after they finished to show us their puzzles and say genuinely kind things about the design.

The relief was immense. At this point, I started enjoying myself.

The people who made the weekend

I had the immense pleasure of talking with Rob and Tim about Puzzery and how we make our puzzles. I also met Erin, Beatrice, Rowen, Katherine, and Ashley, who are helping build the Oregon Jigsaw Puzzle Association, Washington Jigsaw Puzzle Association, and New Jersey Jigsaw Puzzle Association. These groups are still fairly new, which makes their success so far even more impressive. They're giving local puzzlers a way to find each other, and this community will be stronger because of it.

I arrived ready to explain Puzzery. I spent most of the weekend happily talking about chipboard, printer inks, and die cutting machines.

A few small notes came home with us

Our puzzle performed beautifully, but people who solve against a clock notice tiny details. A few competitors gave us thoughtful quality-of-life ideas that could make our puzzles even more efficient for speed puzzling.

The ideas weren't dramatic. They were the kind of small improvements that matter when every second counts. Naturally, I came home and started what is redesign... *checks notes* number 72. 

What comes next

Portland was our first event. It made clear that it should be the first of many.

After five years spent mostly behind the scenes, the weekend was a good reminder of why all that work matters. All the invisible systems lead to something simple: folks getting together for a great weekend with friends.

The gift that becomes an activity

Make a custom puzzle of your own

Turn something you care about into a custom puzzle. And yes, I you can do it at your own pace. No stopwatch needed.

Create your custom puzzle

Thank you to Portland Jigsaw Masters, and every person who made our first speed puzzling event feel like a place we already belonged.

We'll see you at the next event!