Meredith Yeager is the 192nd fastest puzzler in the United States.
It’s an impressive — and unique — flex, albeit one many people might scratch their heads at.
“It’s funny, because I don’t feel like there’s people who don’t know what a puzzle is. So we’re not fighting against truly nonawareness,” said Yeager, 33, of Cuyahoga Falls. “No one is surprised about puzzling. People are very surprised about speed puzzling, the gamification of it. Because so many people go to puzzling for stress reduction.”
Yeager’s 192nd spot is known as a Jigsaw Puzzle Association Ranking, or JPAR. It takes into account a host of factors including a puzzler’s recent performances and previous scores.
Speed puzzling has deep roots — in the 1980s, Hallmark hosted national competitions out of, wait for it, a dairy barn in Athens, Ohio. But the sport (yes, really) has grown in recent years, thanks to the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship, which launched in 2019, and the USA Jigsaw Nationals, which started in 2022.
The events coincided with a resurgence in puzzling during the coronavirus pandemic, when millions of people were stuck at home looking for something to do. Puzzle brands such as Springbok and Ravensburger saw their sales boom as they worked to meet the demand.
“So it’s definitely gone hand in hand, I think. But the run on puzzles never really stopped,” said Becca Taylor, a board member for the USA Jigsaw Puzzle Association, which hosts the national competition. “So even after we came out of pandemic conditions, it’s just absolutely thriving right now, all over the world.”
USAJPA currently has more than 2,000 members representing all 50 states, Taylor said.
A similar puzzle boom happened during the Great Depression, said puzzle historian Anne Williams, author of “The Jigsaw Puzzle, Piecing Together a History.”
“I think for a lot of people, there was a psychological benefit of being able to actually solve a problem,” Williams said. “You couldn’t solve the problems of COVID-19. In the Depression years, you couldn’t solve the economic problems. But you could put a puzzle together, and that was an achievement that was tangible.”
From Ohio to Spain
Yeager’s interest in puzzles goes back to their childhood, but they only really got into it in college. “I was never someone who made art, but I like looking at art, and so I really like doing fine art pieces in puzzles,” they said. “You spend so much time with a piece of art when you’re sitting there putting it together.”
Yeager discovered speed puzzling through Facebook during the pandemic, but things really picked up after they attended a competition last September in Georgia.
“I met other people there and started getting the community aspect,” they said.
In March, Yeager attended the national championship in San Diego and competed individually, placing 83rd. They also competed in the pair contest and the team contest, placing 61st and 18th, respectively.
In September, Yeager went to Valladolid, Spain to compete in the world championship. (Currently, there are no requirements to compete at the world championship. All a competitor must do is sign up.) Yeager’s group placed 67th in the team contest.
For Yeager, attending worlds was a “bucket list” item that went above and beyond their expectations. To hear Yeager talk about it, the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship had all the makings of another large international competition that happened this summer: the Olympics.
Friendships were forged across borders and language barriers.
“Outside of puzzles, something so fun was being reminded that you can communicate with people who are different from you, if you have the passion and willingness,” Yeager said.
Goals were reached. Although Yeager didn’t make it past the individual preliminary, they completed the 500-piece puzzle in under 55 minutes, something they’ve only done three other times.
“I think puzzling is nice because, like rock climbing, you’re competing against yourself,” Yeager said. “I think it’s a lot about your perspective.”
And, like any good competition, there was a great underdog story.
“There was a girl who was totally unranked, had never competed in competitions, nobody knew her, and she got second in her prelim,” Yeager said. “And so to hear these underdog stories, doesn’t matter where somebody’s from. When an underdog wins, you’re just so happy for them.”
Creating a community of puzzlers
For many casual puzzlers, the activity can be a solitary one. But in the world of competitive puzzling, community is key.
“I have made more friends through the speed puzzling community in the last two years than I had in probably the entirety of my adulthood up to now,” Taylor said. “And I think that is part of what keeps people really engaged in it.”
The community aspect of the sport is what the Ohio Jigsaw Puzzle Association wants to highlight. The organization launched in September with the goals of curating a calendar of puzzling events, hosting its own events and serving as a liaison to the national organization.
Ohio JPA President Jessica Henderson said currently there are about 100 active puzzlers in the group, including Yeager, who also serves on the board. Henderson said they made sure to have board members spread throughout the state to better track and publicize puzzling events around Ohio, from large events such as the Tournament of Pieces at Origins Game Fair in Columbus to small gatherings at libraries and bars in Marietta, McConnelsville and Akron.
“There’s, surprisingly, a lot of rural communities that have puzzle events,” Henderson said, “random VFWs and libraries in 4,000-people towns. It’s cool.”
For Yeager, the chance to create a local community of puzzlers is top of mind. They often have to drive to Columbus for puzzling events. With the launch of Ohio JPA, they hope to soon find — and host — events closer to home.
“One of the most exciting things was seeing organically new people in the group,” Yeager said. “We don’t know them at all, and they’re like, ‘Hey, I’m here. Let’s talk puzzles.’ And so that was, for me, just such a personal win of, people are finding us.”
They continued, “I would have wanted this community 15 years ago, 10 years ago, five years ago. So to make the thing that you want, to me, is such a passion.”