Put Your Puzzling Skills to the Test at the North America Jigsaw Puzzle Championship

If you’ve always wanted to put your jigsaw puzzling skills to the test, then check this out! Puzzle manufacturer Ravensburger will host the first North America Jigsaw Puzzle Championship in Minneapolis, Minnesota this May.

The event will take place on May 30, 2020 at the Lumber Exchange Event Center. It will see teams of up to four puzzlers each compete across three rounds to see which team can put together three 500-piece jigsaw puzzles the fastest.

During each round, teams will be challenged to complete a 500-piece puzzle as quickly as possible, and they’ll have a maximum time limit of one hour.

After each round, the teams will be scored based on how long it took them to complete the round’s puzzle. For instance, if a team completes a puzzle in 45 minutes and 32 seconds, they’ll receive a score of 45.32 for the round. If a team fails to complete a puzzle within the hour limit, they’ll receive a score of 60 for the round.

Unlike other competitions, where a higher score is better, here teams want the lowest score possible when all is said and done.

The three fastest teams will win puzzle-themed prize packages. Here’s a breakdown of what’s up for grabs:

• First place: A trophy, as well as a prize package worth $1,000 that contains a 40,000-piece puzzle, a “variety of puzzles,” and a puzzle easel.
• Second place: A prize package worth $500 containing “a variety of puzzles,” plus a “local prize” from an event sponsor.
• Third place: A prize package worth $250, which contains four 500-piece puzzles, four 1,000-piece puzzles, and four 1,500-piece puzzles, as well as a local prize from an event sponsor.

While general entry tickets for the event will go on sale on February 26, “Early Bird Special” tickets are on sale now. A single early bird ticket costs $18, which accounts for admission and entry for a full team of up to four puzzlers into the competition. A regular ticket, which also accounts for admission and entry for a team of up to four people, will cost $23 starting on February 26.

A third option — the Ultimate Puzzle Bundle Package — will be available to purchase for $105 starting February 26. This price includes entry for a team of up to four puzzlers, and it also gets you a “special package packed full of Ravensburger classic puzzles and our Puzzle Championship goodies!” Details about what those items are aren’t available as of this writing.

This event doesn’t have an age requirement, and it will be family-friendly, so kids and adults can feel free to team up to take on the competition (or each other).

For more information or to buy tickets, head over to the event’s ticket page.