I just tried out a new indie puzzle brand (new for me) Trevell. Have you tried it? The pieces were so smooth and the coating was perfect for visibility.
I thought one of the girls I worked with was going to have a meltdown when she found out how I do jigsaws. I don't sort. I leave the pieces in the box, pull out some pieces I need, shake the box, pull out more pieces, and just repeat the process until the puzzle is done. Now I'm curious if anyone else does it this way
I leave them in piles all over the room for months…….fortunately I live alone. It drives my parents nuts when they visit. They do jigsaws in a couple of hours.
Last year when I posted my World’s recaps, there was some discourse about whether it’s fair for competitions to use released puzzles which some people will have done and others haven’t. Unfortunately, with the amount of puzzles that get used at Worlds, I think it’s unrealistic to expect them to make all new unreleased puzzles. But what I found, at least just for me, is that it is possible to dramatically lower my time, but only if I’ve: changed a major part of the strategy AND/OR have done the puzzle very recently (within a few weeks). For the ones that I did the same way and hadn’t done recently, my times were very similar to the first solve. So I think it’s one of those things that will be inherently unfair in a competition, but there are plenty of other unfair things too (access to Ravensburger puzzles, free time to practice, time zones when traveling in for the competition). I don’t think this one is necessarily as big of an issue as some internet commenters made it seem.
If speed puzzling Worlds becomes a big deal, Ravensburger and/or other puzzle companies could time the reveal of the year's new puzzles to the championships. Like how basketball shoe companies reveal new shoes during the NBA All-Star game, or clothes designers reveal the season's new styles at fashion week. If the competition is popular enough, they could get a real promotional boost by revealing a dozen new puzzles that week and having everyone watching to see the year's new puzzles and talk about them.
As a much less skilled speed puzzler, I think the effect of doing a puzzle already has a big impact on my time. I've noticed that when I do a puzzle the second, third, and even fourth time, my time drops significantly each time until I plateau. For very skilled speed puzzlers like Karen, I can see why doing the puzzle once or twice already doesn't impact your time as much because you're already going so fast and there is less room for improvement. I imagine there are a decent number of puzzlers in my category at Worlds where if we've never seen our first round puzzle before, we almost certainly won't qualify for the next round, but if it's a puzzle we've practiced, we'd have a fighting change to qualify.
I guess Ravensburger sponsor the World Championship. They should produce a "World Championship Jigsaw" collection, and produce new Jigsaws for the competition every year that are not released until after the completion of the Championship. That way they will be new and unseen by any competitor. Ray
Even though they got backlash over it they could do what US nationals did and use stock images or AI art. I think this could be a good thing to do. I know people have mixed opinions about it but how else would they be able to get that many new puzzles.
I am THRILLED to discover this channel. 55 minutes ago I didn't know about competitive puzzling. Now I've got World's scheduled in my calendar and I am PSYCHED. This was such a fun watch. Your editing and the care you gave to the data you collected really made this just a joy
I just want to say I appreciate all of the work that goes into those "transition cards" were you write what puzzle it is, whats the top time and then put a high quality image of the puzzle. It has everything important on it and it's beautiful. ❤️ Also I love that you tell us when you eat lunch. Its like a little small talk in between. And it's good to hear that you feed yourself well. 🤗That's something you don't here often online.
I literally yelled "oh no, Karen should have had this one" out loud the second I saw the panorama thundersky puzzle. So happy that you finally got to solve it ❤
Great video - thanks. I did the lightning panorama at worlds last year (pool F). It was pretty dark and what little light you had gave you massive glare from the artificial lights. I did the sky in good time but then hit the wheat. I literally couldn’t see any detail on the bottom three or four layers - it was essentially a shape-sort of black pieces. When I repeated the puzzle at home in good light I took 15 minutes off my time!
Your time is still great - judging by where you’re normally at compared to me and another pool F sufferer I suspect you’d have finished in about 60’ or so, maybe even faster. It got gradually darker over the 90 minutes so the slower you were the worse the conditions got. You really love your gradient skies! Again, brilliant time for this puzzle regardless of the better lighting.
I never liked puzzling as a kid but I’ve been binging your content (the storytelling and editing and your personality are so captivating!). The other day I sat down and did a puzzle (in probably about 8 hours. 750 pieces. I’m pretty proud of that considering me and my family once did a 1000 in 7 months.). It was so much fun and I have you to thank for inspiring me to do it. (It was the puzzler’s desk, buffalo games) I feel compelled to try a bigger one soon and watching your videos just makes me more excited. Thank you!
Karen, I had been doing jigsaw puzzles on and off since I was a youngster. My mum always had one on the go on the dining table, covering it with a table cloth when dinner was due to be served. Last year I discovered an app of jigsaw puzzles for my ipad which rekindled the joy of doing jigsaws. This year, a Twitch streamer I follow recommended your youtube channel. I am glued to it. I really enjoy your VODs. I especially enjoyed your coverage of the National and World Championships. After this latest VOD, you have started something that I cannot now stop. Thank you for listing the Jigsaw Puzzles used in the Championships. I have just bought the entire collection of World Championship jigsaws and await their arrival. You have invoked the challenge in me to complete the jigsaws as fast as possible. Unfortunately, I live in the UK and the National Jigsaws are only available in the USA, makes them very expensive to ship here with all the taxes and custom duties, not to mention shipping charge. Whenever I want cheering up, I watch your VODs. I have never seen someone so enthusiastic about their hobby, it is great. keep up the excellent production, Ray
When you mentioned how much lighting affects how well you can see the details, it made me wonder whether tetrachromes (people who can see more colors than others) have an advantage, and whether it might be more of an advantage in low light conditions. And would polarizing lenses or filters help? Are we going to start seeing top puzzlers look like Olympic sharpshooters? (I'm assuming you can't use additional light sources.) This could be an interesting topic to explore in a video.
Polarized lenses was my first thought as well. You can get polarized lenses with much less tint than typical sunglasses, but they tend to be yellow or green tinted. Maybe that color tint would be more of a hindrance than the glare? Seems like it might be worth bringing a pair for particularly low-contrast sections of puzzles in high-glare situations.
Well, I very spontaneously decided to sign up for World's... I've been following you for years and watching the live streams from previous World's, hope to meet you there! Good luck xx
Looking at all the puzzles I keep thinking that I could totally be a puzzler, but then I remember an average 500 piece puzzle for me takes over a week because of how easily I get bored and need breaks 😆 wish I could work on puzzles in my dorm
Last year i bought new York City post card after worlds and tried myself at speed puzzling. After an hour i decided to slow down and relax more because i wouldn't be able to catch up. But at some point i wanna register for worlds, it seems like such a fun event and it's not in the most crowded city in Spain. My goal would be to finish the puzzle before they end the qualification round
Loved this as the start of the build up to the World Championships. As someone who would never attempt speed puzzling, it is so satisfying and enjoyable to watch, including how it brings people together. A big 👍🏼 to you for all you do for the puzzling community.
Oh, that archeologist puzzle has one of my big pet peeves where they mix paleontology and archeology. I'm not sure if I could do it without yelling in my head about how this isn't archeology!
I'm getting so excited for worlds!! I was doing a huge sewing/costuming project while watching all the streams last year (though I think I only caught two live.. i watched most of them shortly after the fact) and I also spend project for awesome doing more similar projects, so I think that's becoming a tradition for big livestream events for me... gotta get my next projects ready for the event!
This will be my third time following the livestream for worlds and I can't believe how much fun they are. I love your recaps a lot too. Can't wait for this year's competition ❤
just subscribed recently and ive been binge watching your competition-related videos after bumping onto your 24k piece puzzle content. the last time i remember puzzling was at the later months of 2022 (post lockdown pandemic i think). i have long been puzzling since i was a kid but i started doing 1k piece jigsaw puzzles just like 6 years ago. by watching your contents, i kinda miss puzzling and i wanted to go back badly but my school schedule isnt helping so i am very looking forward to the holidays to get my ass working on again. you literally put back my spark and im so thankful to have had found your account. i wish i found you sooner lol. i love how dedicated you are and please keep doing more of these. I wanted to challenge myself also as ive never tried race puzzling before.
Hey, Karen. I first started watching your channel when you did the Life 24,000 piece puzzle. Since I caught up with all the backlog of videos, the time between videos has grown. I now understand and appreciate why
Your drastic time improvement on the circle puzzle (and the change in strategy that led to it) makes me wonder if you take a strategic pause before you even start solving to consider more than one solving strategy and pick the one you think is best?
I'm new to doing puzzles, but it is unbelievable to me you can do it so fast. I did the first one with the tower in about 8 hours, so you 55 minutes is super fast to me. I guess my brain is slow to see how things connect.
Even from a math perspective it is fast. To do it in 55 minutes, you have to connect 9 pieces every minut. That don't leave much time to look for certain form/structure in hundreds of pieces - Even if you kind of sort the pieces a bit.
This video was amazing with all the puzzling, data, video comparisons, etc. I still love your videos and look forward to every release Best of luck at worlds and safe travels!!
I wish they would set up the tables so everyone had the same advantage/disadvantage. And it seems like they could do something about the glare, even if that meant leasing out a different space.
Soooo much RESPECT!!!! It‘s all relative so I get your goals, but when it takes me two days to finish a 500 piece puzzle I‘m astonished at your powers of observation and spatial intelligence!
I'm currently preparing for the competition in my country, this one will be my first one! In a month I got my time from 3+ to 2+ hours. I think it's pretty good for me, everyone starts somewhere!! ❤ This video was super useful, I found new ideas on how to get my time down !! Thank you!
I can't afford lots of puzzles for practicing, so I only have Lupines for comparison, but I am soo proud. Nature is my strong suit and I did Lupines in 1h 1m 42s the first time I tried it. Looking at your skills I think it is save to say you can easily defeat me in any other category than nature. But seeing that I was faster than you on Lupines is so hype. :D (Edit: I hope this does not come across as rude. I don't mean it that way.)
The Lupins puzzle was the pairs puzzle in the Danish championship! I was there with a friend and we ended up near the bottom of the ranking, as we struggled so much with the flowers 😝 However it was so much fun and we’re definitely going back for the next Danish championship, with some more practice! Looking forward to following you for the Worlds contest 😄
It's so cool that you actually competed, and now you're doing these puzzles at home. It's a great "controlled experiment" haha. It also looks like you're having so much fun just doing the puzzles 😁❤️
i will say they do have some good varieties when it comes to the puzzles that they have chosen. some look easy while others look hard. but one persons easy is someone else's hard and vice versa.
As I don't speed, I pick my puzzles by the picture. I wouldn't pay for any of those puzzles. I know Ravensburger has puzzles that ARE my taste but it would be tough for me complete because I would be whining, "But I don't like the picture so I don't caaaaaare." LOL I am excited for the World's but I, also, wait for your recap (watch all of them from beginning to the very end) and I will have to wait longer for that. But I need to go back and watch some of your older posts anyway. Keep us informed on all you are doing to the run up and after, love this stuff. And GOOD LUCK and, of course, God SPEED!
As a Spaniard, I'm getting very excited for the world championship! I was planning to travel to Valladolid as spectator but it's going to be difficult this year :( Anyway, I hope you all have a great time! (and a peaceful mild weather) Keep training hard!
I would really like a video on the different ways to approach the initial sort. Which situations call for different strategies? Which ways do you and your speed-puzzling friends think are best and worst?
My favourite is the New York postcard. I have that and the London one and they're both so colourful and just delightful. I always solve those ones by following the dots.
I love the Circle of Colors: Ocean puzzle. I found it in a toy store here a few months ago and bought it on the spot after watching this channel. I wanted to make it last because it’s so pretty, but it was so fun I finished it in a couple of hours and started again. I’ve done it four times now. 😂
With all of this practice of these specific puzzles, what do you think you're learning as far as where you can improve the most? Do you find that you struggle with similar aspects of each puzzle? Like is it not giving yourself room for the edge, needing better pattern/piece recognition for super detailed or solid color sections? Or is it something figuring out which place is best to start for you based on the puzzle? I feel like Alejandro is always one step ahead in his brain compared to what his fingers are doing. Like as he's finishing one section, he's already thinking about how to tackle the next one? Idk, i feel like he's somehow multitasking lol
33:55 you're literally within 30 seconds od 2nd place here. That definitely shows that lighting is a big factor and its almost common sense that it should be right? 😅 when i was watching your Nationals video, that was one of the first things i noticed was how kinda dark it was. Those color constrasts arent gonna come out like that
Its so impressive to watch you solving all of the Worlds/Nationals puzzles :D 48:33 Krystian Niedziela is going to Worlds this year and I'm following him on his social media - he is superfast and I believe he is the one who can win/earn top 3 in Worlds :D
I think you did a fabulous job and it was definitely not a time waster. I love statistics and I am a nerd through and through. I even geek out sometimes. puzzle very consistent I think your sister helps you with the stats. I’m not sure who’s doing all this amazing editing but this video on my large screen TV was one of the best videos I’ve seen in a long time. I will tell you that I am also a content provider here on TH-cam who loves puzzles and reading, but I will never, ever do a speed competition, lol.
I’ve never speed puzzled before, and when I got in the oceans circle puzzle I was tempted to time it and compare to the worlds times, but ultimately decided not to because I didn’t want the stress during my leisure time, and I’m glad I didn’t because I would have hurt my own feelings 😂 took me nearly 3 hours, I’m a slowpoke but I had fun so I don’t care lol
In competition you don't see the puzzle until you pull it out of the bag. How much time advantage do you think you gained being able to study the puzzle before doing it?
I tried not to look too closely at any of the puzzles I hadn’t done before until I was actually doing it. But there may have been a slight advantage at knowing ahead of time that I was about to do an easy vs hard puzzle.
I would love if you released a 500 piece puzzle! Since I’ve started watching your channel I’ve decided to get into speed puzzling, would love to practice with one of your puzzles! Gradients and solid color puzzles are still scary and yours are a great introduction into that type of puzzle.
My PB on the Archeologist's Desk is 54 minutes, again after a dozen of attempts at least hahaha..... But I'm still proud of myself haha.... I could have done it in 51-52 minutes had I not frozen very badly mentally in the very last stretch of the puzzle (emotional stress knowing I could beat my best time, combined with a little brain fatigue surely). And btw, I always start with all the purple pieces too, after completing the entire frame, though. But as I'm acquainted with this puzzle, I can do the frame without too much difficulty of course..... Edit: OMG Don't tell me you did it in 52 minutes on your FIRST ATTEMPT ! 😭😭😭😭😭 How am I supposed to feel ??!? 😂🤣😂😂 54 minutes was the best I could do by repeating it many times hahaha
puzzle 4 You may consider working on the pink flowers on the bottom first since the sky was so easy. Puzzle 5 work on the edge first and work your way around would have been a better strategy. Puzzle 7. I am wondering if completing the border and working in would shave off some time?
Could you possibly do a short video about lighting? I struggle with glare and my attempts to address the issue haven’t really worked? What’s the best way to light my space?
Wow your time of 52 minutes is excellent on the "Circle of Colours" Underwater model ! On your first attempt ! Amazing ! The only Circle of Colours series puzzle I did was the Tropical model. I love it. It's definitely one of my favourite puzzles, with all its gorgeous colours. Vey enjoyable to do, quality pieces, great cut..... My PB on the CoC Tropical model is 60 minutes (exacly an hour lol). But I did it a dozen of times at least, too..... That gives an idea of the gap between me and you lol. You = first attempt = 52 minutes. Me = 10-15 attempts = 60 minutes lol
Hey, thank you for your videos!! It was a great idea to do all these puzzles like this! ^^ I was just thinking though, could do you maybe turn the image upside down during editing for the 'timelapses' so that we have the image on the right side (what I mean is having the upper side of the puzzle on the upper side of the screen)? =)
Hi Karen. I recently did the cakes Circle puzzle. I found it awkward as the pieces shapes and the overall structure are very different from the classical ones. Glad you did one and happy they use them in competitions. Thank you for this very interesting informative video. Best wishes🎉
![🔴 ฟุตบอลแชมป์กีฬา 7HD แชมเปียน คัพ 2024 [รอบรองชนะเลิศ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/zPm8ClLVhoE/mqdefault.jpg)
Want more? Watch my video trying the 2022 Worlds puzzles: th-cam.com/video/3mArFGdBKJE/w-d-xo.html
I just tried out a new indie puzzle brand (new for me) Trevell. Have you tried it? The pieces were so smooth and the coating was perfect for visibility.
idk why I felt like I had to tell you guys every time I ate lunch lol
Then there's me wondering what you ate. I need lunch ideas 😛
Crucial info. Haha.
Very important 😂❤
I like it, it's sweet😂❤
@@puzzlingread Usually some baby carrots and hummus and something frozen from Trader Joe’s 😅
I thought one of the girls I worked with was going to have a meltdown when she found out how I do jigsaws. I don't sort. I leave the pieces in the box, pull out some pieces I need, shake the box, pull out more pieces, and just repeat the process until the puzzle is done. Now I'm curious if anyone else does it this way
I'll definitely do something similar if I'm just puzzling for fun and not for speed. I do turn all of the pieces over in the box though!
Same! I do the shake for fun. I find it's relaxing and a mystery where I'm headed next.
I leave them in piles all over the room for months…….fortunately I live alone. It drives my parents nuts when they visit. They do jigsaws in a couple of hours.
I do this too! Mostly because I'm too lazy to sort the individual pieces and also because my cats will knock the pieces off my table
I have done it this way. It's not my favourite, but I don't usually have room to spread everything out.
Last year when I posted my World’s recaps, there was some discourse about whether it’s fair for competitions to use released puzzles which some people will have done and others haven’t. Unfortunately, with the amount of puzzles that get used at Worlds, I think it’s unrealistic to expect them to make all new unreleased puzzles.
But what I found, at least just for me, is that it is possible to dramatically lower my time, but only if I’ve: changed a major part of the strategy AND/OR have done the puzzle very recently (within a few weeks). For the ones that I did the same way and hadn’t done recently, my times were very similar to the first solve.
So I think it’s one of those things that will be inherently unfair in a competition, but there are plenty of other unfair things too (access to Ravensburger puzzles, free time to practice, time zones when traveling in for the competition). I don’t think this one is necessarily as big of an issue as some internet commenters made it seem.
If speed puzzling Worlds becomes a big deal, Ravensburger and/or other puzzle companies could time the reveal of the year's new puzzles to the championships. Like how basketball shoe companies reveal new shoes during the NBA All-Star game, or clothes designers reveal the season's new styles at fashion week. If the competition is popular enough, they could get a real promotional boost by revealing a dozen new puzzles that week and having everyone watching to see the year's new puzzles and talk about them.
As a much less skilled speed puzzler, I think the effect of doing a puzzle already has a big impact on my time. I've noticed that when I do a puzzle the second, third, and even fourth time, my time drops significantly each time until I plateau. For very skilled speed puzzlers like Karen, I can see why doing the puzzle once or twice already doesn't impact your time as much because you're already going so fast and there is less room for improvement. I imagine there are a decent number of puzzlers in my category at Worlds where if we've never seen our first round puzzle before, we almost certainly won't qualify for the next round, but if it's a puzzle we've practiced, we'd have a fighting change to qualify.
I guess Ravensburger sponsor the World Championship. They should produce a "World Championship Jigsaw" collection, and produce new Jigsaws for the competition every year that are not released until after the completion of the Championship. That way they will be new and unseen by any competitor. Ray
Even though they got backlash over it they could do what US nationals did and use stock images or AI art. I think this could be a good thing to do. I know people have mixed opinions about it but how else would they be able to get that many new puzzles.
@@blakekaveny Using AI art in the biggest world puzzling competition would be extremely sad. I hope it never comes to this.
I am THRILLED to discover this channel. 55 minutes ago I didn't know about competitive puzzling. Now I've got World's scheduled in my calendar and I am PSYCHED. This was such a fun watch. Your editing and the care you gave to the data you collected really made this just a joy
Good luck !!
I'm so glad you found Karen and puzzling . I love it here
I just want to say I appreciate all of the work that goes into those "transition cards" were you write what puzzle it is, whats the top time and then put a high quality image of the puzzle. It has everything important on it and it's beautiful. ❤️ Also I love that you tell us when you eat lunch. Its like a little small talk in between. And it's good to hear that you feed yourself well. 🤗That's something you don't here often online.
I literally yelled "oh no, Karen should have had this one" out loud the second I saw the panorama thundersky puzzle. So happy that you finally got to solve it ❤
Great video - thanks. I did the lightning panorama at worlds last year (pool F). It was pretty dark and what little light you had gave you massive glare from the artificial lights. I did the sky in good time but then hit the wheat. I literally couldn’t see any detail on the bottom three or four layers - it was essentially a shape-sort of black pieces. When I repeated the puzzle at home in good light I took 15 minutes off my time!
That’s what I suspected must have happened. Thank you for confirming!
Your time is still great - judging by where you’re normally at compared to me and another pool F sufferer I suspect you’d have finished in about 60’ or so, maybe even faster. It got gradually darker over the 90 minutes so the slower you were the worse the conditions got. You really love your gradient skies! Again, brilliant time for this puzzle regardless of the better lighting.
I never liked puzzling as a kid but I’ve been binging your content (the storytelling and editing and your personality are so captivating!). The other day I sat down and did a puzzle (in probably about 8 hours. 750 pieces. I’m pretty proud of that considering me and my family once did a 1000 in 7 months.). It was so much fun and I have you to thank for inspiring me to do it. (It was the puzzler’s desk, buffalo games) I feel compelled to try a bigger one soon and watching your videos just makes me more excited. Thank you!
I am in awe of your editing skills. I don't think most people know how much time and effort it takes to put together a video like this. 🙂
it goes without saying, but another important thing is the pressure that you feel during the event, and how tired you are from puzzling all day.
Karen, I had been doing jigsaw puzzles on and off since I was a youngster. My mum always had one on the go on the dining table, covering it with a table cloth when dinner was due to be served. Last year I discovered an app of jigsaw puzzles for my ipad which rekindled the joy of doing jigsaws. This year, a Twitch streamer I follow recommended your youtube channel. I am glued to it. I really enjoy your VODs. I especially enjoyed your coverage of the National and World Championships. After this latest VOD, you have started something that I cannot now stop. Thank you for listing the Jigsaw Puzzles used in the Championships. I have just bought the entire collection of World Championship jigsaws and await their arrival. You have invoked the challenge in me to complete the jigsaws as fast as possible. Unfortunately, I live in the UK and the National Jigsaws are only available in the USA, makes them very expensive to ship here with all the taxes and custom duties, not to mention shipping charge. Whenever I want cheering up, I watch your VODs. I have never seen someone so enthusiastic about their hobby, it is great. keep up the excellent production, Ray
Here is a theory: Alejandro warps space-time around him. 🤯
The most low-stakes superhero movie ever 😂
When you mentioned how much lighting affects how well you can see the details, it made me wonder whether tetrachromes (people who can see more colors than others) have an advantage, and whether it might be more of an advantage in low light conditions.
And would polarizing lenses or filters help? Are we going to start seeing top puzzlers look like Olympic sharpshooters? (I'm assuming you can't use additional light sources.) This could be an interesting topic to explore in a video.
I was thinking the same thing about your second paragraph😂
Polarized lenses was my first thought as well. You can get polarized lenses with much less tint than typical sunglasses, but they tend to be yellow or green tinted. Maybe that color tint would be more of a hindrance than the glare? Seems like it might be worth bringing a pair for particularly low-contrast sections of puzzles in high-glare situations.
Well, I very spontaneously decided to sign up for World's... I've been following you for years and watching the live streams from previous World's, hope to meet you there! Good luck xx
Looking at all the puzzles I keep thinking that I could totally be a puzzler, but then I remember an average 500 piece puzzle for me takes over a week because of how easily I get bored and need breaks 😆 wish I could work on puzzles in my dorm
I love the detailed analysis and graphs. Thanks Karen.
I've been eagerly waiting for this. I'm always hoping you'll beat Alejandro's time haha
lol unlikely 😂
I can't believe how invested I am in puzzling! lol
I mean, same
Same😂 this video makes me more excited for worlds than I was for the euro cup (football/soccer) this year! (Which I was really excited for btw😂)
@@KarenPuzzles Me too. 😁 Before Covid I hadn't puzzled at all since my teens. I'm 71 now and hooked on it.
I know what you mean!
Your edits on the 13-solve mosaic time lapse was exquisite. So beautiful, thank you for your passion.
48:56 omgggg that is SO. SATISFYINGGGGGGGG watching them all finish one by one is so pleasing to my brainnn
Last year i bought new York City post card after worlds and tried myself at speed puzzling. After an hour i decided to slow down and relax more because i wouldn't be able to catch up. But at some point i wanna register for worlds, it seems like such a fun event and it's not in the most crowded city in Spain.
My goal would be to finish the puzzle before they end the qualification round
That's a great goal to have!
Loved this as the start of the build up to the World Championships. As someone who would never attempt speed puzzling, it is so satisfying and enjoyable to watch, including how it brings people together. A big 👍🏼 to you for all you do for the puzzling community.
the number of times she says "if you remember" is very funny as a first time viewer who hasn't followed competitive puzzling at all lol
Oh, that archeologist puzzle has one of my big pet peeves where they mix paleontology and archeology. I'm not sure if I could do it without yelling in my head about how this isn't archeology!
What a great edit showing your two attempts of the circle puzzle side by side. Loved it!
I love the side by side in the end with all the puzzles! 😍
I'm getting so excited for worlds!! I was doing a huge sewing/costuming project while watching all the streams last year (though I think I only caught two live.. i watched most of them shortly after the fact) and I also spend project for awesome doing more similar projects, so I think that's becoming a tradition for big livestream events for me... gotta get my next projects ready for the event!
I’ve been waiting for this! I actually started getting some puzzles for myself to see how fast I can do them if I let myself look at the picture.
I really enjoy the Circle of Color puzzles! And every time you kinda have to adjust your strategy according to the arrangement of the color gradient.
This will be my third time following the livestream for worlds and I can't believe how much fun they are. I love your recaps a lot too. Can't wait for this year's competition ❤
just subscribed recently and ive been binge watching your competition-related videos after bumping onto your 24k piece puzzle content. the last time i remember puzzling was at the later months of 2022 (post lockdown pandemic i think). i have long been puzzling since i was a kid but i started doing 1k piece jigsaw puzzles just like 6 years ago. by watching your contents, i kinda miss puzzling and i wanted to go back badly but my school schedule isnt helping so i am very looking forward to the holidays to get my ass working on again. you literally put back my spark and im so thankful to have had found your account. i wish i found you sooner lol. i love how dedicated you are and please keep doing more of these. I wanted to challenge myself also as ive never tried race puzzling before.
Love this video!!! Super enjoyable. Loved every minute. thank you 😊
Hey, Karen. I first started watching your channel when you did the Life 24,000 piece puzzle. Since I caught up with all the backlog of videos, the time between videos has grown. I now understand and appreciate why
CONGRATS!! 300.000 Subs! So happy for you. Appreciate your work& passion!
Your drastic time improvement on the circle puzzle (and the change in strategy that led to it) makes me wonder if you take a strategic pause before you even start solving to consider more than one solving strategy and pick the one you think is best?
We cannot wait for Worlds! Thank you for your amazing hard work. Congrats on your times!🎉
I'm new to doing puzzles, but it is unbelievable to me you can do it so fast. I did the first one with the tower in about 8 hours, so you 55 minutes is super fast to me. I guess my brain is slow to see how things connect.
She makes it look easy. It takes me ages too
Same. It takes me around 3 or 4 hours to complete a 500 piece
Even from a math perspective it is fast. To do it in 55 minutes, you have to connect 9 pieces every minut. That don't leave much time to look for certain form/structure in hundreds of pieces - Even if you kind of sort the pieces a bit.
I didn't know puzzle speed running was a thing but this is dope asl
This video was amazing with all the puzzling, data, video comparisons, etc. I still love your videos and look forward to every release
Best of luck at worlds and safe travels!!
I wish they would set up the tables so everyone had the same advantage/disadvantage. And it seems like they could do something about the glare, even if that meant leasing out a different space.
This is such a fun challenge you’ve chosen for yourself 👏🏽
44:13 we love a consistent Queen! 😂❤
Soooo much RESPECT!!!! It‘s all relative so I get your goals, but when it takes me two days to finish a 500 piece puzzle I‘m astonished at your powers of observation and spatial intelligence!
I'm currently preparing for the competition in my country, this one will be my first one!
In a month I got my time from 3+ to 2+ hours. I think it's pretty good for me, everyone starts somewhere!! ❤
This video was super useful, I found new ideas on how to get my time down !!
Thank you!
Fiesta Time and The Archeologist’s Desk are the ones I'd love to do. I love food puzzles and Aimee Stewart puzzles.
48:55 What a cool detail! Loved seeing the time lapse of all the puzzles side by side. Very neat!
You always choose the best video ideas ….so fun, creative and interesting …. ❤
Thank you for doing this video! This is one I've been looking forward to for a while. My favorite is the panoramic puzzle of the summer thunderstorm.
Not only a star at puzzling but also at editing. I love your videos!
Good luck for the worlds!
Gr8 puzzling. I will be rooting for you again!!!!!❤❤🎉🎉
Oo I love the sea circle of colours one!
The you against yourself all the vids at once is so satisfying.
I can't afford lots of puzzles for practicing, so I only have Lupines for comparison, but I am soo proud. Nature is my strong suit and I did Lupines in 1h 1m 42s the first time I tried it. Looking at your skills I think it is save to say you can easily defeat me in any other category than nature. But seeing that I was faster than you on Lupines is so hype. :D
(Edit: I hope this does not come across as rude. I don't mean it that way.)
Flea markets and charity shops often have cheap puzzles!
It's so good seeing you do puzzles that i myself own and have done!! It never happened before and now twice in one video ahahah
The Lupins puzzle was the pairs puzzle in the Danish championship! I was there with a friend and we ended up near the bottom of the ranking, as we struggled so much with the flowers 😝 However it was so much fun and we’re definitely going back for the next Danish championship, with some more practice!
Looking forward to following you for the Worlds contest 😄
Super interesting, thanks Karen !! 😊
It's so cool that you actually competed, and now you're doing these puzzles at home. It's a great "controlled experiment" haha. It also looks like you're having so much fun just doing the puzzles 😁❤️
You made me understand how this is a thing. Interesting. Thank you
You're an incredible puzzler Karen ! Solve a 500 piece puzzle takes me 3 hours xD I solved the archeoligst's desk puzzle, it was so fun to do ! :)
I have just finished to watch your video. Great video as always. Keep them coming. We love you.
If only you could take your own light to these competitions! I am sure many would
That was really entertaining to watch thank you Karen
Your editing game is on point! Your videos are a delight to watch for many reasons :)
i will say they do have some good varieties when it comes to the puzzles that they have chosen. some look easy while others look hard. but one persons easy is someone else's hard and vice versa.
11:10 we stan a youtuber who procrastinates just like the rest of us ahahaha
😂 truth
As I don't speed, I pick my puzzles by the picture. I wouldn't pay for any of those puzzles. I know Ravensburger has puzzles that ARE my taste but it would be tough for me complete because I would be whining, "But I don't like the picture so I don't caaaaaare." LOL I am excited for the World's but I, also, wait for your recap (watch all of them from beginning to the very end) and I will have to wait longer for that. But I need to go back and watch some of your older posts anyway. Keep us informed on all you are doing to the run up and after, love this stuff. And GOOD LUCK and, of course, God SPEED!
Karen: You need polarized glasses- removes glare!
As a Spaniard, I'm getting very excited for the world championship! I was planning to travel to Valladolid as spectator but it's going to be difficult this year :(
Anyway, I hope you all have a great time! (and a peaceful mild weather) Keep training hard!
I would really like a video on the different ways to approach the initial sort. Which situations call for different strategies? Which ways do you and your speed-puzzling friends think are best and worst?
I’m so excited for this video too!
That last one you loved so much would be my biggest nightmare 😂
My favourite is the New York postcard. I have that and the London one and they're both so colourful and just delightful. I always solve those ones by following the dots.
Karen you’re great I’m proud of you
You will rock at Worlds
Karen, your such a joy! ❤
in 8 years this could be an Olympic exhibition event.
I love the Circle of Colors: Ocean puzzle. I found it in a toy store here a few months ago and bought it on the spot after watching this channel. I wanted to make it last because it’s so pretty, but it was so fun I finished it in a couple of hours and started again. I’ve done it four times now. 😂
With all of this practice of these specific puzzles, what do you think you're learning as far as where you can improve the most? Do you find that you struggle with similar aspects of each puzzle? Like is it not giving yourself room for the edge, needing better pattern/piece recognition for super detailed or solid color sections? Or is it something figuring out which place is best to start for you based on the puzzle?
I feel like Alejandro is always one step ahead in his brain compared to what his fingers are doing. Like as he's finishing one section, he's already thinking about how to tackle the next one? Idk, i feel like he's somehow multitasking lol
33:55 you're literally within 30 seconds od 2nd place here. That definitely shows that lighting is a big factor and its almost common sense that it should be right? 😅 when i was watching your Nationals video, that was one of the first things i noticed was how kinda dark it was. Those color constrasts arent gonna come out like that
4:10
"Daniela Oliveira Dinato" omg, a person from my country :D
Its so impressive to watch you solving all of the Worlds/Nationals puzzles :D 48:33 Krystian Niedziela is going to Worlds this year and I'm following him on his social media - he is superfast and I believe he is the one who can win/earn top 3 in Worlds :D
I know, his times are incredible! I can't wait to see him do it in person.
Your times are amazing. I really loved this video. Thank you Karen😂
I think you did a fabulous job and it was definitely not a time waster. I love statistics and I am a nerd through and through. I even geek out sometimes. puzzle very consistent I think your sister helps you with the stats. I’m not sure who’s doing all this amazing editing but this video on my large screen TV was one of the best videos I’ve seen in a long time. I will tell you that I am also a content provider here on TH-cam who loves puzzles and reading, but I will never, ever do a speed competition, lol.
I’ve never speed puzzled before, and when I got in the oceans circle puzzle I was tempted to time it and compare to the worlds times, but ultimately decided not to because I didn’t want the stress during my leisure time, and I’m glad I didn’t because I would have hurt my own feelings 😂 took me nearly 3 hours, I’m a slowpoke but I had fun so I don’t care lol
In competition you don't see the puzzle until you pull it out of the bag. How much time advantage do you think you gained being able to study the puzzle before doing it?
I tried not to look too closely at any of the puzzles I hadn’t done before until I was actually doing it. But there may have been a slight advantage at knowing ahead of time that I was about to do an easy vs hard puzzle.
I'm getting more and more excited for Worlds! To think we could have a new champion or new records!
I would love if you released a 500 piece puzzle! Since I’ve started watching your channel I’ve decided to get into speed puzzling, would love to practice with one of your puzzles! Gradients and solid color puzzles are still scary and yours are a great introduction into that type of puzzle.
My PB on the Archeologist's Desk is 54 minutes, again after a dozen of attempts at least hahaha..... But I'm still proud of myself haha....
I could have done it in 51-52 minutes had I not frozen very badly mentally in the very last stretch of the puzzle (emotional stress knowing I could beat my best time, combined with a little brain fatigue surely).
And btw, I always start with all the purple pieces too, after completing the entire frame, though. But as I'm acquainted with this puzzle, I can do the frame without too much difficulty of course.....
Edit: OMG Don't tell me you did it in 52 minutes on your FIRST ATTEMPT ! 😭😭😭😭😭 How am I supposed to feel ??!? 😂🤣😂😂
54 minutes was the best I could do by repeating it many times hahaha
I have been waiting for this one!
Puzzling queen!
I love how i hated puzzles as a kid but now i love them 😂
Man, the lupines really stomping Karen huh. 🐺😆
I think I would most like to do the lightning one, the water-circle one, or the lupins one.
Do you remember (or write down) the techniques you use and work best for the different kinds of puzzles? Like how to tackle a round puzzle etc.?
I’ve definitely learned to the border of the round puzzles first, if it’s one that has a design on it like the Ocean puzzle.
puzzle 4 You may consider working on the pink flowers on the bottom first since the sky was so easy. Puzzle 5 work on the edge first and work your way around would have been a better strategy. Puzzle 7. I am wondering if completing the border and working in would shave off some time?
I would love to try the air balloon valley puzzle one day 😃
Could you possibly do a short video about lighting? I struggle with glare and my attempts to address the issue haven’t really worked? What’s the best way to light my space?
Wow your time of 52 minutes is excellent on the "Circle of Colours" Underwater model ! On your first attempt ! Amazing ! The only Circle of Colours series puzzle I did was the Tropical model. I love it. It's definitely one of my favourite puzzles, with all its gorgeous colours. Vey enjoyable to do, quality pieces, great cut..... My PB on the CoC Tropical model is 60 minutes (exacly an hour lol). But I did it a dozen of times at least, too..... That gives an idea of the gap between me and you lol. You = first attempt = 52 minutes. Me = 10-15 attempts = 60 minutes lol
This video was insanely impressive!!!
Hey, thank you for your videos!! It was a great idea to do all these puzzles like this! ^^ I was just thinking though, could do you maybe turn the image upside down during editing for the 'timelapses' so that we have the image on the right side (what I mean is having the upper side of the puzzle on the upper side of the screen)? =)
Hi Karen. I recently did the cakes Circle puzzle. I found it awkward as the pieces shapes and the overall structure are very different from the classical ones. Glad you did one and happy they use them in competitions. Thank you for this very interesting informative video. Best wishes🎉