It was a chilly February morning and the room was packed. Tables full of family and friends leaned toward a common goal, hands outstretched, waiting. A collective inhale, the signal was given, and they began.

Murray Parks & Rec hosted their fourth jigsaw puzzle completion on Feb. 10, and it was the most successful thus far, filling both sides of the large gymnasium. Nearly 40 registered teams of between four and six puzzlers huddled around tables, sorting and clicking pieces into place at a furious pace. 

Each team was given an identical 500 piece puzzle and 2.5 hours to puzzle, but the winning table positioned the last piece after only 37 minutes. 

“This is our fourth puzzle competition here,” puzzler Libbie Lindon said. “The first one was super fun, and we won! So we kept chasing that feeling of winning.” Since entering competitions Lindon says she prefers doing puzzles in one setting rather than always having a large puzzle going. “Five hundred pieces is the best size because you can finish it and put it away. It’s like training.”

The Rec Center started the jigsaw puzzle competitions about a year ago and plans to hold them quarterly, as the event has become quite popular. “There were only 12 teams the first time and today there are nearly 40,” Jennifer Leitner, Murray Park Center director, said. “First through third place teams get prizes (candy or maybe gift cards) and bragging-rights medals. Plus every team gets to keep their puzzle.” The cost to enter is $20 per team.

A puzzling history

The first jigsaw puzzle was created by a map engraver named John Spilsbury in 1762. He mounted a map onto wood and then cut around the countries to help local children with their geography education. It was an instant hit and the concept was soon expanded into other educational images such as farms and religious scenes. 

At this time puzzles were called “dissected puzzles.” The term jigsaw comes from the special saw that was invented in 1855, and the name “jigsaw puzzle” didn’t appear until 1906. 

Early puzzles had pieces cut exactly on the color lines and there were no transition pieces with two colors to signal that the green area of a field, for example, fit next to the blue of a sky. Additionally, a careless move could undo hours of work because the pieces did not interlock. And, unlike children’s puzzles, the adult puzzles had no guide picture on the box, so the subject of the puzzle could remain a mystery until completion.

Puzzle popularity peaked during The Great Depression, as puzzles offered an escape from the times, when unemployment was above 25%. With tight budgets, home entertainment like puzzles replaced money spent in restaurants and night clubs. 

At that time, many unemployed architects, carpenters, and other skilled craftsmen cut jigsaw puzzles in home workshops. During the 1930s, drugstores and libraries added puzzle rentals to their offerings, charging three to 10 cents per day depending on size.

Pleasures of puzzling

There are many pleasures and benefits of puzzling. According to the publication NYU Dispatch, these include improvements in problem-solving skills, attention to detail, visual/spatial reasoning, preservation, task completion and short-term memory. 

Additionally, jigsaw puzzle completion produces a sense of quiet and tranquility, which is similar to the effects of meditation. By focusing solely on the puzzle, it clears away everyday concerns. 

Local puzzler Dani Bain Smith agrees, “Even if it’s a competition and we’re intense and rushing, it’s meditative. It blocks out a lot of the noise and thinking about work. You get in a zone, an hour’s gone by, and it feels like a nice break.” 

Jenni Jensen, Taya Turnbow, Rachel Jensen and Alex Yrungaray are sisters-in-law who’d never puzzled together and entered the competition to check it out. Jensen insisted she always puzzles alone and she always finishes in one setting. “Even if my husband asks if he can help, I tell him no!” In response Turnbow laughed, “Well, I guess we’ll see how the teamwork goes today.”  

The team that won second place was comprised of sisters and their mother who’d flown up from California, specifically for the competition. “This is our first competition and we called Mom and told her we couldn’t do it without her,” puzzler Andie Wenger said. “I’ve been puzzling with my mom since I was three.”

All teams agreed that it’s not entirely about winning…it’s about being together, creating social connection, and cooperating to solve a problem. “That’s all true,” agreed Wenger who was on the second place team. “But it’s also awesome to win!” 

Murray’s next jigsaw puzzle competition isn’t far away with a superhero-themed contest set for April 27. Interested participants can register at mcreg.com under special events.  λ