Piece of the action: entering the British Puzzle Championship

Speed puzzling requires quick hands and a cool head, something Elizabeth McCafferty finds out by jumping straight inAre you here for the puzzle championship?” asks a smiling fellow competitor as I join the queue of puzzle enthusiasts. I most definitely am. But my smile drops as she continues: “That’s all the niceness you’ll be getting from me today, then.” She is, of course, joking but, as with most jokes, there is a glimmer of truth behind it.I am in Newmarket, Suffolk, for the Gibsons British Jigsaw Championship, which has been held here for the past 11 years. Competitors battle it out to be in with a chance of the £100 first-place prize money. There are three categories: Fun, Pairs and Elites, who would expect to complete a 1,000-piece puzzle in under three hours. In 2023, Elite nine-time British champion Sarah Mills finished her puzzle in 1 hour 52 minutes, meaning she was doing a jaw-dropping eight pieces per minute. Continue reading...

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