Jigsaw enthusiasts try to complete 54K-piece puzzle at Vegas convention

Eunice Cho is a lifelong jigsaw puzzle enthusiast. She estimates she typically finishes four or five puzzles a week, each 1,000 pieces on average.

"Even from a young child, I've always been puzzling. As I have gotten older, like when I go on vacation, I always bring puzzles with me and I just love to do them," Burnaby, B.C., resident told Day 6.

So it's no surprise that when she learned about the upcoming Jigsaw Puzzle International Convention (JPIC) happening this weekend at the Las Vegas Convention Center, she jumped at the chance to attend.

Jigsaw puzzle gatherings aren't strictly new, but the JPIC aims to cast a wider net over local events and attract thousands of puzzle fans, collectors, artists and even puzzle influencers proselytizing the hobby on social media.

It was founded by Montrealers Karine Dery and Alexandre Ouaknine, who presented their idea and won 200,000 euros (about $264,000 Cdn) in seed funding on Shark Tank Malta. It's also partnered with TCG World, a metaverse and cryptocurrency-focused gaming company.

It's an auspicious time to tap into the venerable pastime. Jigsaw puzzles exploded in popularity during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, as people around the world found new hobbies (or rediscovered old ones) to enjoy while stuck at home.

"It's like puzzles are the new toilet paper," David Manga, owner of the Cobble Hill Puzzle company in Victoria, B.C., told Day 6 in 2020.

The Ultimate Challenge

Cho said she's looking forward to meet like-minded puzzling fans from around the world, even though she usually sees it as a peaceful reprieve from her job and family duties.

But she's most excited to take part in what's called the Ultimate Challenge: a 54,000-piece jigsaw puzzle that some attendees will attempt to assemble to its completion over the convention's three-day duration.

The puzzle, titled "Travel Around Art!" and produced by puzzle company Grafika, depicts a mural of 50 classic paintings from around the world, and measures 7.7 metres long and 2 metres high. It's touted as the world's largest commercially available puzzle today.

Cho's already started a Facebook page for attendees planning to take on the challenge, and estimates about 35 to 40 people have so far committed.

"We go from basically 8 in the morning until 11 at night, trying to piece these puzzle pieces together," she said.

A three-day convention is an exceedingly tight time frame to complete the puzzle behemoth, even with dozens of participants. One user on Reddit who posted a photo of the fully assembled mural in February said it took 358 hours to finish.

Puzzling is for everyone

Rose Catherine Khan, a professional artist who creates the illustrations for jigsaw puzzles, said the hobby has a more diverse fanbase than some people may think.

"As I told my friends and family members about this convention ... I think they had this idea that everybody was going to be, like, geriatric or something," she said.

"I think it's absolutely, completely false. And I could tell you as somebody who is in the industry, that my audience is definitely all across the board, from children to people who are teenagers to adults."

Ryan Bronner, who goes by the name Snake Eyes St. L on social media, is keenly aware that he doesn't fit the stereotypical image of a puzzle fan.

"I'm a young Black male. Dreads. You know," said Bronner, who describes himself as "a massive jigsaw puzzle-head."

But he's been posting enthusiastically about attending the show, alongside regular pics of his puzzle hauls from stores and completed frames.

"[When] I tell them I'm going to Las Vegas, their instant thought is, oh man he's going to go down there and party. I say I'm going down there for a jigsaw puzzle convention, and it's almost like, crickets of amazement," he said.

Khan is excited at the chance to meet fans who have worked on puzzles based on her art in a more personal setting than usual.

"I think I've gotten about 100,000 of my puzzles have sold worldwide. And the thing about that is, I don't know who buys those puzzles," she said.

"I'm excited ... just to have a chance to interact with [people] who all share the same common point of enjoyment: basically, who all love puzzles."

How to puzzle like a pro

Cho's been to several puzzling competitions in the past, though nothing quite like the massive effort the Ultimate Challenge will be.

Usually, she said, puzzlers will compete either as pairs or in teams of four, before being given the pieces of a puzzle sealed in-box.

"We typically will find out the piece count, but we won't actually know the brand or the actual photo on the puzzle," she explained.

"Once the clock goes, you open your box and then you start your puzzle."

Cho said she "gravitates" towards puzzles with more challenging art or designs, such as images with solid colours or even subtle shades of the same colour range.

She also makes a point not to look at the full image before starting a puzzle.

"I find it's very distracting to look at the box, because then you start searching for what looks like is the picture. So I find it's not helpful for me, but when I've watched other competitive puzzlers, they ... are much more watchful in terms of looking at the box," she explained.

"I'm not a box-looker."

Written by Jonathan Ore. Produced by Laurie Allan.