I went to the WORLD JIGSAW PUZZLE CHAMPIONSHIPS

[@KarenPuzzles]

The Semifinals video is up now! kzbin.info/www/bejne/boDNYnaGg7ZqfdE

[@zeitzwerg]

Karen, pls see comment on my post to you, guess this is fake. ❤️

[@ExtremePainGames]

Karen your channel is so much fun. Congratulations on all your success. You ROCK.

[@lukearts2954]

How can a 500 piece puzzle be difficult? I think a friend of mine would just knock everybody off their socks there, if only she would deem it worth the time to participate in such a competition. She solves puzzles upside down, so she doesn't even need to waste time turning all the pieces over, all she needs is a surface large enough to spread out the pieces. She complains that Ravensburger only uses 5000 different pieces max (and often far less) and with anything larger than that, the cuts start over. She also knows all the cutting patterns they have in their production (at least, at the time when she told me, and demonstrated this to me...) As an example, she showed me a 30,000 piece puzzle she was going to start. Too much to spread out on a table, but she has an attic floor dedicated to puzzles. She was told this puzzle was supposed to have 30,000 unique pieces, and she got very pissed when after just a few seconds she had already found doubles. (she only talks about shape, not about the print). To demonstrate this, she grabbed one piece from the pile, looked at it and gave it to me. She pushed the pile open, and in 20, maybe 30 seconds, she gave me 3 other pieces that had the identical shape. This means that in that time, she picked 4 out of 6 identical pieces out of a stack of 30,000!! (minus the borders, that also repeated) If you put someone with such a gift through rounds with 500, they'll be burnt out from boredom by the time the puzzles would get interesting, I'm afraid. Lots of fun for us normal people, though hahaha. But seriously, 500 can no way be called "immediately a difficult puzzle"... Unless it's a consistently staggered cut, which iirc Ravensburger doesn't have.

[@lasseibsen2942]

Hey, do you know who the girl was with the danish flag?

[@michaelthomasbanschitz3749]

I will include this in to my trainingsplan.. some Darts, some Basketball, some Crosstrainer, some climbing, and some puzzling! Love It! Thank you for the video!

[@cidevant002]

The world is not prepared for Kristin using two hands AND having all the pieces with her. This is the universe giving us a sign that when she finally has all she needs, nobody will survive.

[@WereDictionary]

If she summons all five missing pieces, the shadow realm opens and she wins instantly.

[@BarefootCM]

Getting a time penalty for something that is completely out of your control and in theory the organisers responsibility and is already a hindrance on its own is absolutely wild

[@MeriPT]

I thought this too! Totally unfair!

[@cadeolson6332]

@@xyz12345457 They added 50 seconds

[@therealjetlag]

@@xyz12345457 Watch it again, they ADDED time.

[@ollieisarat]

@@xyz12345457No, they added it pretty clearly

[@megjane7]

​@@xyz12345457they added it

[@meriedb]

I watched the livestreams in English because I wanted to hear your commentary but I went back and watched Alejandro’s commentary in Spanish and he basically said that it really surprised him to hear Kathi finish so soon after him. He spoke to her afterwards and was impressed with her being so young and only speed puzzling for a year or so. Then he spoke a bit about his approach to the puzzle he did, because he had done it before he knew the easy bits and tackled those first. Finally he spoke about the other puzzles and said he really likes nature puzzles and building sky. After that it’s mostly talking about the puzzle in that round (Eiffel tower) and other contestants progress. Hope that helps! Can’t wait for the other recaps 😊

[@KarenPuzzles]

Thank you for the summary!

[@emilycampbell521]

Thank you so much for this ❤

[@andreafeelsfantastic]

Gracias!

[@w8stral]

They should be forced to do puzzled they have never done before. Honestly it is cheating to have done it before. You remember all the nuances.

[@andreafeelsfantastic]

@@w8stral I guess Ravensburger doesn’t have enough unreleased puzzles for the whole contest to be unreleased? They could do custom ones though.

[@hennaoctopus]

I just wanna say, I love people who are passionate about obscure or unusual things, and it fills me with joy that this lady is now being sponsored and flown around the world to compete in her chosen field. Like she's got a unique shape to her personality and was somehow able to find a place in the world where she fit and can make a living with that uniqueness. Like a puzzle piece sliding into place!

[@Teramis]

Totally agree! Her enthusiasm and love of this hobby/competition is what drew me in to watch this, and it is totally captivating in a very happily uber-nerdy way. ❤

[@aspiecubist4826]

​@@TeramisShe is right she is not a good puzzler in world terms anyway. She clearly does not have the talent of the top people in terms of piece recognition and memory. And she probably has 10x the experience they have. But it's not just about practice. At the top level, you just can't teach it. You can have all the theories about patterns and colour sorting you want but it just wont cut it against the best.

[@dapa091]

Kristin finishing in a solid 2nd in the first quarterfinal round, despite the missing pieces snafu, just shows how good she is.

[@unclesheogarath]

Poor Kristin! That was really not a nice situation😢 but she did great!

[@icturner23]

Please edit your comment to avoid spoilers. Luckily I watched the whole live stream so already knew the results, but yours was the one comment previewed for me on this video (i.e. without actually clicking on the comments or scrolling down or doing anything) so it would have ruined it if I hadn’t.

[@lunabelletheinsane]

@@icturner23 Sorry - but that's not their fault - they shouldn't have to edit their comment because KZbin previewed them. It's their comment and they can make whatever they want - it's not their fault it was previewed on your particular click onto the video. That's an odd request to make of someone.

[@icturner23]

@@lunabelletheinsaneDon’t be silly. It’s wrong of anyone to give unhidden spoilers ever. I only mentioned how the comment was presented to demonstrate that I wasn’t just asking as a point of principle. It’s odd of you to think it’s odd to think people shouldn’t give spoilers. It’s not like it’s hard to put a couple of lines of full stop/return/full stop/return.

[@PSXfiles]

Adding time for lost pieces seems really unfair in a situation like this where it was clearly a packaging error. I get that it curbs cheating, but 10 seconds per piece is nuts! Thankfully it didn't affect her standing.

[@8_bit_Andy]

It's so cool that Karen met a top puzzler who started competing because of her videos! She's such a great ambassador for puzzling as a whole and for this competition in particular. Puzzling is lucky to have you Karen, and so are we!

[@KarenPuzzles]

A huge thank you to Ravensburger for sponsoring this video and sponsoring me to go to Worlds! Stay tuned until next weekend for my video about all of the semifinal rounds and let me know if you have any questions you want me to answer about the event. Editing these videos is a huge project so thank you for being so patient as I work nonstop on them behind the scenes 🫢

[@ukulelia56]

Thanks Karen 😊

[@ObsessiveGeek]

Really appreciate all your hard work, and congrats on the surge in subscribers it’s well deserved. It was a real blast watching Worlds as it happened and I love the additional insights you bring.

[@annl8722]

Take your time. We'll be here when you're ready.❤

[@jRoy7]

I enjoy these tournaments videos so much. And I suspect it'll encourage more people to get involved with tournaments in the future too. Thank you for the time and effort!

[@lutek1]

About the smaller countries getting through.... you could look at it from a different angle - Just like in the Olympics only a small number of athletes per country get a ticket, regardless of how well they perform. Yet each country can send an athlete regardless of how badly they perform. The only difference is that the cut off is made at a different point in time. At the WJP in the quarters, at the Olympics before that, at home. The result is the same.

[@kobisjeruk]

Players being punished for missing pieces means that the organizer/provider of puzzles are confident that it was entirely the players fault when in truth, it could have been on their part. Missing pieces is a huge deal. But it could still happen even on world stage.

[@McP1mpin]

It makes sense though, otherwise people could hide pieces to win. 10 seconds is still extreme though because if you think about it, those missing pieces could be saved until last and realistically they would only take maybe two seconds each to place.

[@Albtraum_TDDC]

@@McP1mpin theoretically sure, but realistically how much time are you saving by hiding pieces? You would have to hide like 20 or more to make it worthwhile and frankly, that would probably slow you down since you would have floating pieces with no edges to match with. Have you ever made a puzzle before? Having random missing pieces makes it harder, not easier. And random pieces is the only way you could do it. If you tried to sort pieces to remove, that would take as long as just putting them in the puzzle.

[@als_pals]

The solution is for them to improve their QA on puzzles before shipping them unsolveable

[@gabor.nadudvari]

5:59 The lady who picked the bag looks suspicious to me when she suddenly looks down, like when something was fallen from the bag.

[@satibel]

​​@@als_palsfrom what I found in forums there's around a 1% chance to get a missing/duplicate piece, so not that common, but not that rare either, most manufacturers will give you a new puzzle if you prove it wasn't complete. (As sending a replacement piece isn't really doable as they don't always use the same die for the same puzzle, so it might be cut upside down or something, plus the manufacturing cost is so low getting someone to check would be more expensive).

[@Semelem]

Your random fatigue was likely a result of someone winning first and your body finally relaxing. It’s called general adaptation syndrome, after a prolonged period of stress is usually a period of exhaustion

[@KarenPuzzles]

Speed puzzling is just a series of intense stress and intense exhaustion. It's just better if the exhaustion comes after you finish the puzzle!

[@3ybh3lloll3hby3]

​@@NoThankUBeQuietI think at a competition like this, most people would have been feeling intense stress

[@wombatconrad]

​@NoThankUBeQuiet it's her video

[@Rawr98]

@@NoThankUBeQuiethuh? It’s a known phenomenon

[@peterfireflylund]

Jet lag? Doesn’t she live in the US? It takes a while to adjust to such a big timezone shift.

[@ingiford175]

One thing that helped Karen by about 40 seconds is that the boxes were not shrink-ed wrapped. We know how much issue she has with the wrapping in competitions

[@thingsilike638]

Coming back to report on some of what Alejandro said, but I think he might've stayed there for the whole round, so I'll have to go back for more: - He has a girlfriend called Maria who has done pairs competitions with him. - Susana, his partner last year, was unable to come, which is why he paired with Gisela. His team this year and the last was Nonstop. - The hosts compliment his ability as a pair puzzler. They say his dance card is metaphorically full. Besides Gisela and Maria, he also paired with his mom for competitions this year. - He was just beginning to rest in his round when he heard applauses for Kathi and realized how fierce the competition is this year. He said he and Kathi talked after the round. They both had happened to do their round's puzzle, Alejandro in a different competition, Kathi I'm not sure. They both were less nervous as a result, more relaxed doing the puzzle. - There's a great deal of talking about which parts to do in which order both for the round they're commentating, Alejandro's round and even other rounds. I will need to come back to that. - He spent Thursday morning doing chores around the apartment (I'm assuming an airbnb?? He doesn't live in Valladolid) and occasionally checking the results. - They briefly talked about the puzzles he and Kristin did with you the day before. Alejandro says he had fun though he liked Kristin's puzzle more, he wasn't used to the big pieces of his puzzle. The end for now 😂

[@adan3781]

I think the 'unique country' rule makes for a more interesting competition. If the finals were mainly between the Spanish and Americans (they are the most numerous), a lot of people would lose interest in watching and participating. I've watched sports for years, and competitions quickly grow old if it's the same people compiting all the time.

[@KarenPuzzles]

Fair enough, I can see both sides of it.

[@laramaaike3050]

Okay, didn't see it that way first, but you have a point.

[@AubreyMobley]

I also really enjoyed for love of puzzles taking about the difference in puzzles available for practice. Yes, money for puzzles can be a barrier, but in America at least you can trade puzzles around.

[@johnvann7027]

Plus, they go home as celebrities which will grow the interest for puzzling in their country.

[@nathaliajusto6636]

It is a matter of equity. Completely support the rule.

[@portland-182]

Feeling sorry for Katie just missing out because of the unique countries rule, on the other hand the 'first person per county' rule stops 'more local' countries sending a large number of contestants and skewing the results just by force of numbers. Perhaps lower it to 20 unique countries who actually finish the puzzle, plus the other 40 fastest next year?

[@LMaloey]

It's kinda hard to compare the difficulty of each puzzle as long as it's different. And some countries have better access to puzzles and competition than others, and it would be hard to only do unpublished puzzles too. So the fastest rule would be hard to make fair.

[@nivyan]

It's more about representing and showcasing every country' skill than finding the world' best puzzler.

[@Laserstormelpies]

Keep in mind that more people are now allowed to advance to later rounds in the event. So... this country rule being added alongside it technically doesn't take anything away that we had before. So I think its absolutely a win.

[@nilsp9426]

I think they could at least apply the country rule across the whole competition (one per country overall and not per qualification round, by rank). That would have probably kept a lot of countries in the competition without having too many people qualify just by being there.

[@emma70707]

Yeah, I get why Karen/Katie feel a bit salty since Katie was on the losing edge of it this time. And it is a bummer for Americans especially, who have numerous strong competitors. However, I really like it overall because it allows for an incentive for puzzlers outside of Europe/US/Australia to bother making the trip. You're never going to get Asia and Africa involved if a person who may have no local competitions has to travel super far and then can only compete in a single round. This way, if they're decent, they can still advance. Hopefully enticing people from more diverse areas to come can help build enthusiasm and grow puzzling competitions locally as people learn from others who already have more established regional competitions.

[@justbecuz5723]

This is SO nerdy, and I’m here for it! Watching people be so energized and passionate about competitions like these give me life 😊❤

[@Lisa_Flowers]

I absolutely love that your videos not only bring more attention to speed puzzling for viewers, but also for potential competitors! In a few years there's gonna be more ranking upsets in the puzzling world because of your videos! Kathi is amazing

[@M_SC]

This

[@laurentracy6282]

Kathi really gave Alejandro a run for his money! His hands move so quickly when he's puzzling so I thought he would run away with it. She really came out of nowhere. Also, Tereza's finish around 30 minutes was crazy!

[@catherine.puzzles]

Hi Karen! I took part and was in group A…. And let me tell you, when I saw that puzzle I thought “what am I doing here, I’m never going to finish it” 😅 And I was right, I didn’t finish it, but moved on nonetheless to the second round because of the country rule, and I was really thankful for that. Getting a second chance to prove myself was and opportunity I was super grateful for 😊 PS: I did not have the courage to come up to you and ask for a photo, but it is also thanks to your video from last year, that I had the idea and courage to compete! PPS: Postcard ❤

[@hayleyleiberman8491]

I'm glad that you competed and were given another chance in the second round! Congrats on having the courage to go and try! :)

[@tim..indeed]

Next time go for a photo, she'll definitely enjoy taking one with you! (Source: I asked her for a photo another event last xear)

[@catherine.puzzles]

@@tim..indeed I think I’m just too shy 🙈

[@Sapreme]

What is the country rule? If you dont mind me asking edit: ahhh nevermind, i just got to that part in the video lol

[@charlottesinclair9354]

@@Sapreme To determine who qualifies, instead of it just being the fastest 60, they take the top 30 from different countries, and then 30 fastest by time. It's explained a bit better around 36:35!

[@kathi.puzzles]

I (obviously) was there - and I can only agree with what you said about the community. 🥰 The vibe is so special, everybody shares the excitement for the hobby of puzzling and also the event. You somehow feel connected and get along with everyone there just blindly. I can only recommend going there - regardless of your actual speed puzzling skills. btw, your pronounciation of my name is excellent 💯 and thank you everyone for all the kind comments :)

[@Mike_Dubayou]

You rocked! Good job on the amazing performance!

[@KarenPuzzles]

I love that we all automatically have something in common. It really is the best community, and you fit right in with all of us ❤️

[@LogicMasterSteve]

Kathi, you well deserved the attention that you got in Karens video! Love your attitude!

[@JaggerG]

@@KarenPuzzles You fit together like digits in a sudoku! :^3

[@furrrfect]

I'm really glad you mentioned that anybody can come, this is the first I've heard of puzzle competitions and promoting the positive vibes definitely influences me to go visit!

[@AdventureGameFan8]

I've never been particularly interest in jigsaw puzzles, but last year, when I was dealing pretty bad anxiety, YT recommended these videos and they used to help me wind down. A year later, I tuned into the world cup live stream, already familiar with some people and rooting for Karen :D

[@turun_ambartanen]

I think the 30 by country, 30 by time is a very elegant solution for the world championship. Compare it to the Olympics. Every country gets to send participants, usually chosen by who did best in some sort of national qualifier. It is awesome that the jigsaw puzzle championship allows everyone to sign up! In order to still have a world championship finale where every country can participate that wants to participate, but at the same time deal with the large number of people in the event such a filter rule is a good compromise in my opinion. Having a requirement of "must have finished the puzzle" doesn't make sense, because the puzzles vary in difficulty. Imagine there is one round where only 20 people finish and then the country rule would basically not apply! One alternative would be to invite just 10 people from every country. To limit the number of participants and still lay reasonable claim to the title of _world_ championship. This would obviously be worse than the current rule. EDIT: Not sure how to say that nicely, but to be honest, the 50th place doesn't have a high chance of winning a price anyway. EDIT2: Maybe they should split it into country competition and free for all competition? That way both sides of the argument (pro and contra such artificial limitations) win! (at the cost of more complex logistics at the event itself)

[@KarenPuzzles]

I’m definitely biased because of Katie’s placement, but I’m getting a lot of good comments arguing the other side. You’re making good points!

[@TotalNoobAtEverythin]

⁠​⁠@@KarenPuzzlesmuch respect to you for acknowledging how your sister’s placement affects your opinion, and it’s totally understandable. I think both sides have good arguments. I just wanted to let you know that I think it’s good of you to admit that you’re biased (even if it’s only somewhat) and still keep an open mind to hear out the other side

[@niyamitchell6818]

I agree wholeheartedly. Just having the opportunity to compete in more rounds allows countries with a smaller puzzle culture to gain more experience and do better next time! It sucks to be eliminated in the first round but it would suck even more if this is the only competition you can go to all year. I think the rule as it is right now is ideal in balancing the integrity of speed puzzling and growing the sport. Also requiring participants to finish the puzzle within the time limit would only lead to more stress on the organizers, since it’s clear these puzzles varied highly in difficulty. It would honestly seem more arbitrary than it is now.

[@Para20Site]

I think you’re hitting the nail on the head. Most World Championships don’t allow the best competitors to compete either, they allow the best competitors per country to compete. These countries have to select their competitors and hope they have the best performance. The 10th best competitor of one country could be better than the best competitor of other another country, but they would generally never get to compete at the World Championships as most sports don’t allow that many competitors of one country in their World Championships. I think it’s great they allow everyone to compete and I think it’s a good way to deal with the discrepancy of the number of competitors per country.

[@theaudiobookaficionado]

I actually love how the competition has statutes in place to include as many nations as possible. It's the world jigsaw puzzle championship--it makes sense to put an emphasis on the WORLD and ensure that as many parts of the globe as possible are represented. You compared the competition to the olympics and similarly, it would not be fun to watch the olympics if it was just a bunch of competitors from the US because they had more resources than other countries to compete. I don't think the system they have in place affects the outcome when it comes to who will actually place in the top spots so it doesnt make things unfair or skew the final results, it just makes the event more inclusive when it comes to its title as a world competition

[@sailorssmallfarm1867]

I agree to a certain point. It makes sense to me to give as many countries as possible a chance to represent to the finals, but I would put a caveat on that in that I think the rule should only apply to puzzlers who finish the puzzle in the time cap. It is not a new competition, and it is not a new time cap, and I think it is a reasonable time cap that separates speed puzzlers from the rest of us. But in general I like the rule, since it allows people with less access to puzzles, competitions and or the ability to travel to have a worthwhile experience.

[@thingsilike638]

You're such a great ambassador for Ravensburger and the Worlds championship itself. You have so many fans and the English language livestream was obviously full of people who were looking forward to seeing you and cheering you on, but you remain so humble and keep up the "just happy to be here" energy that makes your videos so much fun to watch. I will try and see what Alejandro spoke about for the Spanish language livestream (I spent my time with the English speakers heheh) and report back. I feel terrible for Kristin that five pieces were missing! I'm glad the organizers are taking that seriously. It speaks to her sorting capabilities that she didn't check her piles, she knew the missing pieces were off the table or nowhere. Anyway, personally, I like the fastest from 30 countries + top 30 fastest rule, and I hope they don't get rid of it. I feel it encourages people where there isn't a big puzzling scene to make the trip, enjoy the experience, and perhaps encourage others to come, join, and organize in their countries of origin. As a Spaniard, I know that can leave fellow countrypeople who DO finish their puzzles out, but I feel like worlds should be a celebration of worldwide puzzling just as much as it is a celebration of speed puzzling. 💕💕 Looking forward to your other recap videos!!

[@thingsilike638]

P.s. I can't believe there are people in this or any other comment sections chastising you for talking while puzzling! It's obvious that you do it to make the video more engaging. We're on youtube, videos are supposed to be engaging. 🤗

[@louisejackett1431]

Karen, you have perfectly captured not only the excitement of this competition but also the heart of this community 😊 Puzzling among the greats is such a huge buzz, and there is so much to admire in everyone's efforts regardless of their finishing times. But most of all, this has got to be one of the most supportive groups of people on the planet. I had the time of my life! - Lou (from Australia)

[@KarenPuzzles]

It was so nice to meet you and all of the Australian team!

[@rmb6037]

I feel so bad for Kristin. Not only did she get screwed with having missing pieces and having to waste time looking for them, she got PENALIZED BECAUSE THEY WERE MISSING! How is that fair???

[@customsolutions7167]

​@@xyz12345457I understand it to be time added not subtracted.

[@therealjetlag]

@@xyz12345457 Her time on screen was 47:50 when she stopped but her official recorded time was 48:40. They ADDED 10 seconds for each piece to her time.

[@hnichole]

@@xyz12345457 Idk how on earth you got that, not only does the rule explicitly state that they ADD time, but you can see from Kristin's final times that they did indeed add. Her real finish was the 47:50, her final ended up 48:40 after adding the time for the five missing pieces. If they had subtracted, her final time would have been 47:00, which it was not. (It doesn't even make sense, why would they subtract time for her missing pieces? The rule is supposed to "make up" for the time she would have spent if the pieces hadn't been missing. Where would be the logic in subtracting that?)

[@kirnpu]

It isn't because she'd already spent additional time searching for the pieces. It was like a double whammy. Completely unfair. Also, psychologically upsetting too and confusing when she's trying to be focused. Really not happy about that at all...

[@jyoung6366]

@@xyz12345457comprehension is so important! She WAS penalized. The time was ADDED.

[@cutestephie1313]

First minute into the video: Valentina, your camerawoman, did a great job! 👏

[@KarenPuzzles]

She was running around like crazy and got so much amazing footage!

[@valentinavee]

Thank you!

[@MsAdaCat]

​@@valentinavee, totally agree, you did a fantastic job 👍

[@sjoerdglaser2794]

Great to see all my favourites from last year return: Alejandro, the Ana's, Kristin, Tereza. And even an exciting newcomer challenging Alejandro! The story building between the two seasons is just great.

[@MarielaDavina]

Hi Karen, thanks for the postcard from Spain! This was an excellent recap and it was so lovely to see you sharing the experience with Katie, Valentina and your puzzle friends! I do jigsaw puzzles to relax so I don’t know if speed puzzling would be for me, but I love seeing your competition videos. It’s clear that there’s a real sense of community and that people are celebrating each other’s successes. Well done! Looking forward to next week’s video!

[@aartadventure]

I was lucky enough to catch the insanity of Group D live. It also makes this recap video even more impressive to me. Karen and Valentina are so good at capturing all the drama! Thank you both for all your efforts, and to Ravensburger for sponsoring the video and the event.

[@betsylindsay8480]

Hope you got some rest after the Championship, you deserved it!!!! Even at your young age, you must have been tired after all the prep and participation. Have anxiously awaited your KZbin return. Never thought I’d get up in the wee hours to watch puzzling, nor get verklempt while watching you and The Misfits competing. But I did, lol. You have done so much in promoting puzzling, hope you are happy and fairly compensated for all you do.

[@Lisa_Flowers]

I'm assuming the country rule exists so that the competition isn't _entirely_ dominated by people who are more local or countries where people can afford to send lots of people over (though it still mostly is). As it stands because the puzzle competition is only in spain, most of the contestants seem to be European, or come from English speaking countries like Australia and America where maybe there's a stronger puzzle culture/more wealth so you can have people engaging in competitive puzzling and engaging in local and international competitions. And also as someone else mentioned more access to the kind of puzzles that show up in competitions. I haven't seen many people from Asia, Africa or South America. It can feel like all the same countries are represented in the final rounds. I know it's still a relatively small competition in terms of resources and it's not like international sport where there's more resources to make the event more global. But I still think its a good idea to have some kind of rule in place to diversify where puzzlers come from and to encourage a puzzling culture to develop there. Because I feel like this kind of thing has a self perpetuating effect you know? The more puzzlers from specific countries represented, the more you will only or mostly get people from those countries. There's probably a more fair way to prevent that - like people have mentioned, making finishing (or almost finishing) the puzzle a prerequisite of qualifying 🤷‍♀️ if you're looking at it from the perspective of 'i'm an individual person who now doesn't get to qualify just because I'm from a more represented country' then yeah that is pretty unfair. But you might not be taking into account the additional resources that individual might have that allows them to get faster times, that someone from a less represented country might not have. They may have more access to puzzles, more disposable income to spend on puzzles, local puzzle competitions to practice, etc. This is probably why some countries are more represented anyway.

[@francescathomas3502]

There was at least one person from Brazil and one from Argentina in those preliminary rounds so South America was represented, but just not in large numbers.

[@CreatrixTiara]

There was supposed to be someone from Malaysia but it doesn't look like they actually showed up!

[@emma70707]

​@@francescathomas3502, yeah, also Paraguay, I believe. South America is starting to represent, but definitely still early days. I think this is a good sign that the country rule is actually useful in incentivizing people to come from more diverse locations.

[@silvermeasuringspoons6462]

It's not only the availability, puzzles are so extremely expensive as hell in those lesser known countries.

[@eleo_b]

The issues you mention are pretty much the same for any sport. You’re going to find more Asians in badminton compared to basketball. And the competition within certain countries will be fiercer.

[@blakekaveny]

My mom who doesn’t really do KZbin but loves puzzles watched the entire competition with me. Also my dad was like that sounds boring watched the teams finale with us and really got into it.

[@nikibordeaux]

My boyfriend, who's not into puzzling, watched large chunks of the live footage with me and enjoyed it a lot. I might get him to try out a small puzzle eventually 😄

[@ailaanexplores2933]

Hi

[@nikibordeaux]

@@lenagranstrom579 Nah, sorry, I don't have any recommendations. I mostly do art puzzles, which are pretty difficult.

[@PredictableEnigma]

Competitions are fun to watch no matter what kind

[@eleo_b]

That’s cute, your dad. Like watching the superbowl

[@tu7488]

About the rules for qualifying. I think it's more interesting the way they do it. Spain and USA have most partisipants and semifinal would be a bit boring with puzzlers only from the two countries. Now you hold the interest from the audience all over the world. The more countries, the more fun. Yes it's a bit unfair, but I prefer it done this way.

[@KarenPuzzles]

Fair enough. I can see both sides of it even if I don't love how it played out in this instance.

[@Milktube]

The current residence of the participants is irrelevant to the **WORLD PUZZLE CHAMPIONSHIP COMPETITION** that is the actual purpose for this event. If the best 50 puzzlers were all from the same 2 countries that wouldn't matter because it's exciting to see *the best of the best compete** in something that they are the best in the world at. The audience loves to see skilled people do things skillfully, regardless of what their current address is. By your logic we should also get variety of participants by making sure we have puzzlers with unique attributes, # of pets, # of houseplants, the color of the wall in their kitchen, etc. It's important to represent different colors of kitchen walls, the more kitchen wall colors, the more fun.

[@hoppy6141]

I was surprised they provided puzzles with missing pieces for something so important to their company. Quality control could have made sure that run of puzzles were complete.

[@Jasper_4444]

I'm sure Ravensburger wholeheartedly agrees, and that they are looking through their entire process right now. They can't afford this to happen again and they know it.

[@AlchemicKitten]

It's bad enough that us regular consumers get puzzles with missing pieces (happened with maybe 10% of our personal ones and "Our British Birds"), but in a competition its horrendous.

[@Jasper_4444]

@@AlchemicKitten10% is a lot, in my mind.

[@diethylmalonate]

someone from the stream chat put it pretty well about the country rule - there will always be a "fastest person who didn't qualify", just that this time it was someone with a higher profile, so it drew more attention. From a wider perspective, the rule also gives opportunities to people who don't usually have access to speed puzzling. In the US there is nationals plus lots of local and online competitions, while some smaller counties can't even put together a team of 4. Worlds might be one of the few chances they get to participate in an organized competition, so it's a good gesture to give them one or two more rounds. The whole tone of worlds is already pretty low stakes, the judges even help people find the one last piece sometimes, so it's not like this rule is eroding some kind of integrity. (compared to say, chess where players would glare at spectators who make any intentional noise over the hours-long games xD) So many other competitions rank people based on speed alone, so it's not like people from larger countries are hurting for opportunities. If we want to talk about fairness, the first rounds could really have had more interesting puzzles, I'd be quite annoyed if I paid the same entrance fee but got just a landscape while other people got nice art pieces LOL

[@KarenPuzzles]

All of these comments might be convincing me about that rule! I just still think that you should have to finish the puzzle for it to apply even at the beginning rounds.

[@sprinklesthepanda2763]

@KarenPuzzles maybe the country rule should only kick in if less than 60 people finish the puzzle?

[@vinhix]

@@aytcs great analysis, I found it funny when she said that big countries have a "disadvantage". While completely ignoring the fact this is to level things, since who has the advantage are the big countries, with a lot of puzzle competition and easy access to practise, that for itself is a way bigger advantage than this one. Since they have more tools to be better than the smaller countries, but still end up losing to them, and blame the rules. And just like you said perfectly, if there was a limit of people, to enter from each country, they wouldn't even be there in the 1st place, so they shouldn't even complain about it.

[@miniciominiciominicio]

@@KarenPuzzles Glad to hear that, Karen, as I thought you came off extremely privileged and stereotypically American. That said, I did enjoy your video and subscribed.

[@db-qm2xl]

It’s stereotypical American to think completing a puzzle in a faster time (in a speed competition) should get to the next level over multiple people who didn’t finish the puzzle? Moron.

[@VayaP]

I appreciated the point that I heard Janette and Her Puzzles and For the Love of Puzzles make - that some countries can't even PURCHASE the current Ravensburger catalogue, so are at a certain disadvantage as they aren't able to try and practise similar puzzles or even the same puzzles that were chosen. The Circle of Colors puzzles for example, weren't available to buy in New Zealand, if memory serves. The country rule helps level the playing field.

[@morefiction3264]

Just add them and have a few more qualifiers for the semifinal.

[@Zedja]

I have a suspicion that Alejandro has some sort of photographic memory when it comes to images, which makes it easy to find the pieces he needs and where they are located. He might not even know that himself. One way to test that is testing him with "Find 5 differences" images and see how quickly he can find those on multiple ones.

[@ChaiLatte13]

Yep and he's very good with recognizing patterns. lines, shapes.

[@SilverFlame819]

I've been thinking about looking up timed puzzles online to test myself against others, because I've been wondering about exactly that. When I puzzle with other people, I fly along, while they struggle (like, just friends who are working on a puzzle with me). It's like the piece shapes just kind of jump out at me. I'm wondering if that's normal? My nerd brain wants to test it out! What I think is interesting about Alejandro though is that he studies two pieces at once, rather than one, like most people do. It's very unique!

[@markmcgahey8385]

I think it's safe to assume that advancing so many puzzlers who are unlikely to achieve a high final ranking is more about the sponsors wanting to keep a global audience watching for their sole national representatives in the later rounds than it is about the competitive element, which I think is reasonable. Realistically, if it was just about fast puzzling, they'd be cutting it at the top ten or fifteen from each heat and then "none" of the other 80 or so from each QF would be moving on anyway.

[@ryanbarker5217]

see, i think it's absolutely unreasonable that at the top level of competition anyone but the best performances don't advance. honestly, such a concept is actually absurd to me at this kind of pro-performance level.

[@filiaaut]

That's what happens at any sports competition, though, it is especially easy to understand for team sports (there is only one team per country per competition, even though in some countries, it is much harder to qualify for the national team than in others), but even in solo sports, competitions like the Olympics do limit the numbers of participants from the same country and the same sport, and issue invitationals to a few athletes in countries that wouldn't be represented at all otherwise. There is a lot that goes behind "getting the best performance", and individual hard work and talent are far from the only factors. Availability of a wide range of puzzles, and the money to buy them, access to local competitions, etc. make it much harder for people in some countries to train and reach the competition, just like in other sports, whether or not an athlete can live from their sport (or do they have to work, and only train on the side), has access to great coaches, equipment, training facilities, medical care, etc. make for a very uneven playing field before any competition even starts. I'd say the differences between this puzzling competition and more "mainstream" world competitions is that anyone can come to the first round of competition, and the selection starts from there, so if you want to make things easy for the contestants who come from underrepresented countries, you can only influence qualification after the quarterfinal results (and not before the competition even starts), which makes it more visible. These rules are never going to be perfect, but the reason for their existence is pretty clear. Get rid of it and you just let people trip over the unlevel playing field. Puzzling is not lucrative enough to organise local competitions everywhere, fund the travel costs for less wealthy competitors, or even organise the world championships in a different country every year, which would probably be less objectionable ways to deal with the starting inequalities. Letting some people get through to later rounds instead of being eliminated early only cost you a bunch more puzzles (compared to only letting the 30 fastest people from each quarter and not caring about nationality).@@ryanbarker5217

[@markmcgahey8385]

@@ryanbarker5217 All of the top puzzlers "are" moving on. Anyone beyond the top 15 or so in any heat are being added as a pure bonus, and for a tiny sport hoping to grow, assigning those bonus slots in a way that will maximize audience size and encourage global growth of the sport seems perfectly sensible. The sport is at the fledgling stage and in much greater need of growth than it is in establishing perfectly calibrated rankings for the top 200 puzzlers/teams in each category. If and when it gets to the point that the participants need to go through a qualifying process to even attend, then they can start adjusting things to a more purely performance based ladder system. But things are clearly at a much, much more informal, fun-based level right now, and trying to apply strict, formal World Cup or Olympic style rules would be counter-productive.

[@noreingravity]

​@@ryanbarker5217idk, maybe someone could make another just for the best of the best? I like this type better and so do a big chunk of people precisely because they get to see their country represented so I doubt they change it any time soon

[@Marcneto]

The First time in forever that i was waiting for a Video. Thanks for the Recap! Watched every Livestream completly because of you! I just bought some 500 Pieces Puzzles from Worlds just to try to race you :D Thank you for the inspiration in a new/old Hobby

[@KarenPuzzles]

Report back with how you do on them!

[@kathi.puzzles]

lol, Marcneto, du hier? ich chill hier in meiner Puzzle-Bubble und auf einmal seh ich den Trash TV king 😮😂

[@Marcneto]

@@kathi.puzzles na ich Puzzle doch auch voll gerne mal :p, da verfolgt man natürlich auch die Puzzlequeen

[@kathi.puzzles]

@@Marcnetolieben wir 💅

[@Marcneto]

​@@KarenPuzzlesfinished the New York one. It was the first time ever that I raced a Puzzle. And did it in 2 1/2 hours 😕😰 seemed I need a lot more practice

[@Saudade_Ana]

Maybe I'm feeling too sensitive today but I dropped a tear when you told Katie you were proud of her. Congrats to all of you puzzlers, this was so fun to watch. And POSTCARD

[@namefaceageirrelevant]

That volunteer at 11:56 was all of us when Tereza finished so fast! 😮😮

[@fran823]

I really like the country rule, it gives puzzlers from underrepresented countries a chance to compete too.

[@jeno264]

But some: Didn't. Complete. The. Puzzle. 🤯

[@Ethelspider]

@@jeno264 The Olympics do the same thing. Some of the swimmers in the early heats wouldn't even make regional age group finals. Top countries can only send two swimmers for each event even if they have the top ten swimmers in the world for that event.

[@janetmichel3009]

​@jeno264 I like the rule too but I do agree that they should at least have finished the puzzle (as it is required in later rounds already anyways).

[@frenchfran12]

@@jeno264 @janetmitchel3009 Some of the 'fastest 30' puzzlers didn't complete the puzzle in the rounds with the harder puzzles. If you only take people who complete the puzzle you seriously disadvantage those in the rounds with more difficult puzzles.

[@paulnoles]

Instead of remaining top 30 times from all quarterfinals it should be remaining top 5 from each to account to puzzle difficulty. The country rule makes sense.

[@cybermoomin502]

thank you for introducing me to the world of speed jigsaw puzzling Karen! I watched so many of the livestreams this year and it was incredible to see how talented everyone is!

[@y0_jimb0]

@@fairamir1 Talent is not involved? What do you mean by that?

[@Yoruake89]

I watched the livestream and Alejandro picks up 6 tp 8 pieces at a time and puts them in. But watching Kathi and Sarah... Both of them were so freaking close to him at one point. And did you see him in Teams with Gisela? She was sorting A LOT! She served him several pieces at a time in a row and he put them in. It was mind blowing.

[@carriemummy]

I'm so glad you've finally posted something. I was worried that we hadn't heard anything from you after the competition. I really enjoyed watching the worlds. Thank you for giving your pov.

[@KarenPuzzles]

I've been giving updates on the video progress on my Instagram Story almost every day!

[@carriemummy]

Oh, and well done!

[@carriemummy]

​@@KarenPuzzlesah, I rarely go on Instagram. I'm old lol

[@jlilley73]

I don't use instagram either. Why would an KZbinr post updates about their KZbin videos on Instagram rather than KZbin? I find that odd. A weekly post on the Messages tab would have been nice.

[@petersaundersuk]

I love the visuals showing the results! Many TV and other media channels could learn A LOT about how to represent data from this video! Great job 👍

[@MaxiF]

The edition in this video is fantastic. Keeping the clock and name from oficial stream is fantastic, looks great. It must have been a lot of work. Congratulations for your first worlds!

[@KarenPuzzles]

Thank you! It was a process keeping everything organized!

[@IQzminus2]

I watched the English live streams, which was a big upgrade from just the Spanish ones last year. This this video makes it all a million times better. Really captured the highlights and feeling of the competition wonderfully. I can’t imagine how much work is it’s got to be editing all those hours hours of footage. But this video came out amazing! The editing and extra footage really makes a huge difference 😊 And while watching the livestream I was thinking about how I couldn’t wait to see the comparison of times between the different puzzles. And here it is!

[@fernandoroca54]

OLE!!! That's me, The finishing in Style.

[@KarenPuzzles]

You added some serious flair 💃🏻

[@mesmedor]

I have no connection whatsoever to puzzling but you have a great ability to make this benign and peaceful sport engaging and exciting for viewers. Kudos! Things are a bit rough in my life right now but watching your videos about these championships comforts me greatly.

[@ACDBunnie]

I dont like doing jigsaw puzzles, just watching but this speed competition makes me wanna go do one. I really like the way they have the rule set up. I understand that if I participated in the competition i might feel different, but I like how they made sure a wide variety of countries were included in future rounds while also advancing the individuals who objectively have the best times. The only thing I can level with you on is that its a little odd to advance participants who didnt finish the puzzle. But not the worst rule to exist, these competitions can be psychologically taxing and its difficult to finish in the time limit, so I understand why some very good speed puzzlers cant finish Cant wait for part 2!

[@echoklang19]

This recap was full of emotions and so wholesome! Also I would like to note how awesome it is to see so many different amazing people from all over the world come together and share one hobby ❤❤ The postcard puzzle was great but I absolutely loved the third and fourth puzzle, they were so so beautiful!!

[@sarah_youtube966]

I really appreciate how you pronounce (or try to pronounce) the names correctly :) As a german, hearing kathi pronounced well is so nice! :D Awesome video!

[@KarenPuzzles]

I checked with her on the pronunciation and she sent me a voice note ☺️

[@madaian369]

Yay, I love these recaps! It's so interesting to see the participant point of view this time around too! You had me oohing and aahing at all the action like I didn't watch all the streams already 😂 The difference in the amount/time of finishers between the first flower puzzle and the postcard one still seems wild to me, I would love to be in the room where they pick the puzzles for competition amd hear why

[@KarenPuzzles]

I know, same!

[@Cheekers]

Congrats, Karen. I was up in the middle of the night for all of the live streams. You did great commentary as well! Kudos! 🥰

[@KarenPuzzles]

That's dedication!

[@charlier.k4934]

Video just popped up as a suggestion, was curious for a few seconds but did not expect to watch the entire video like I just did! Good personality & video editing and it was quite interesting with all the statistics etc. You're pretty and really likeable ❤😊

[@raelenecreed5513]

This was the first time I watched all of the live streams. Being in Australia meant a few late nights but it was well worth it. Even though I was supporting the Aussies, I did not miss any of your comps. Well done Karen I think you did a great job and how brave to take on Alejandro and Kristin

[@leahbelieva]

I’m obsessed. I’m so happy you got to go and compete and share all of this footage with us. I watched as many live streams as I could that weekend and was absolutely glued to my phone. I have never tried doing a puzzle for speed and I don’t think it would ever be my thing but how fun!

[@zofiabochenska1240]

About the country rule - I see it this way. In a big sport events, you usually have rules limmiting the number of people allowed to compete. So if it was actual olympics, most of the American and Spanish wouldn't be allowed to come at all. Since obviously it is smaller and more casual event they aren't making such rules, but instead they have a different solution which helps to make sure, that the best person from each country have a chance to advance.

[@elizaprice2124]

I love that Katie was there as well, just love the family support you both give each other, sucks that she didn't qualify but great that she competed too and still killed it!

[@gayandorky]

Oh my gosh! For the first time, I know one of these puzzles!! I’ve done the archeologist’s desk a few years ago. I think it was the first puzzle I saved using your taping technique. I don’t know why but I’m just so giddy that it’s there!!

[@hfsaid]

I have it too. This is my favorite kind of puzzle.

[@13Maur]

Never cared for puzzles my entire life and this video was so good! I REALLY love that everyone is so happy, just doing what they like to do you know, its infectious

[@bobbobert9379]

On the countries rule: i think you gotta at least finish the puzzle for it to apply. And it should be as many remaining slots as there are available after that in time order, not a static 30.

[@bettyjane6684]

I don’t really think there should be a country rule. I think there should be a time rule only

[@scofah]

​@@bettyjane6684I like the countries rule a lot because so many beings worldwide have so little compared to advantaged people (who are simply lucky to be born where they were), that it gives people real hope. They could truly make it, despite their disadvantages. However requiring them to at least finish (in order to advance) makes sense. 🌏🌎🌍

[@silverstreaked]

Hey! That is me (making a brief and unsuspecting cameo) at 32:53 in Group F. Loved your recap!! You guys got some amazing footage! It's funny, your comment about the "three people in a row who all started with the corner" of the panorama puzzle was so true - BUT I actually regret not finishing the edge. I didn't quite finish the puzzle (36 pieces left), and I feel like I would have finished if I'd (a) spun the puzzle around so the bottom edge was at the top (for better light - I was throwing a shadow onto the puzzle, which didn't help), and (b) if I'd finished the edge. On the upside, the dome wasn't nearly as hot at 9pm, so that was nice. Definitely hope they can have some better quality control and also air conditioning in future years!! Looking forward to the next videos :) PS: I also was too shy to come up and say hi but now I'm proud to say I'm in a Karen Puzzles video!! :P

[@AbramSF]

If anything those missing pieces made her slower. Then they added extra time at the end? Seems extra unfair.

[@KarenPuzzles]

It's an imperfect science but they had to follow the rules that were laid out beforehand. They're working on solutions so it doesn't happen again.

[@blakekaveny]

Normally it’s not much of an issue because normally it’s just 1 piece missing because it’s usually just 1 piece missing for adding the 10 seconds ain’t much of an issue. This was a very unique situation

[@sheilamargus5335]

I had a Ravensberger puzzle where the whole corner section was missing. Around 20 pieces. I wrote to Ravensberger but they would do nothing as the puzzle was 6 months old and a present. Very frustrating I feel so bad for anyone with missing pieces. Let’s hope they weigh all their puzzles as they leave the factory.

[@kuschelalarm]

I agree! It was clearly the fault of the manufracture... in my opinion she should have just got the 10 second penalty for the one random peace missing. But I Do also understand that they have to follow the official rules to treat everone equally Fortunality that it hasn't changed the Ranking!

[@nilsp9426]

You could just claim all your pieces are missing (just throw them somewhere...) and finish instantly, if there was no penalty for lost pieces. Not that any of the nice people there would do this, but if the rules are this way, you can easily have a troll show up and do this.

[@DreamingBouvardia]

I watched parts of the livestreams. It was so cool seeing everyone puzzle. I loved seeing you do commentary and this had been a great recap so far. I can't wait for the next video!

[@sabashahraini5071]

The country rules totally makes sense, it's the exact same concept of wild card in sports. It won't be fun to watch bunch of Americans and spanish compete with each other. I mean if you think its unfair to give advantage to smaller countries, its also unfair to have that many participants from USA and that many from Spain.

[@kimberlee9608]

YAY KATIE!! I hope she never stops accompanying you to these competitions, she is the closest to my “reflection” in puzzling ability so I love seeing her compete! I know I’m not a star puzzler but I can see my improvements!

[@kenfreeman8888]

After watching one of your videos, I tried speed puzzling at home and really struggled. Congrats to you and your sister for finishing within the time limit.

[@pottymonsert560]

Finding and going down the rabbit hole of this more neish KZbin content always makes me so happy and feels like the old days of KZbin

[@stuartmcconnachie]

I’m surprised that it appears Ravensburger might not have a weight check as part of their existing internal QC. Either that or it seriously failed on this occasion. This is an extremely common where pieces might go missing during production, for example Lego sets and Airfix models.

[@a14a17k]

youtube suggested this to me after watching speedrunning videos. i had no idea there was a competitive puzzling scene. this is awesome! i love jigsaw puzzles and have always had a knack for them.. this was a great inspiration for my next time-sink activity

[@toomanymarys7355]

I think that this is a good way to do it. Really, only the top 30 from any quarterfinal has a chance at placing in the top 50 of the finals, anyway. The extra 30 people are really just padding and to make it more fun for countries that aren't competitive.

[@corwin2103]

And here I am, a spanish girl who's never interested on puzzles, descovering all this.I love the way you show,explain and LIVE your passion, and you have now a (not-interested-on-puzzles) subscriver😅😊

[@clarkkent7973]

Thanks for visually explaining how people qualified for the next round. It was not this clear from the reading the rules.

[@KarenPuzzles]

Honestly I didn't really get it until making those graphics either 😅

[@RonHarrisMe]

Just WOW. I knew NOTHING of this. I spend a lot of time on KZbin EXACTLY for video's like this. Humans, just being human. I find the Human Condition fascinating, and this is a huge part of it. Thanks, Karen. You made my WEEK. As far as your issue with the Ranking. Personally, I can think of a MORE FAIR way to do it. To me, an outsider, and someone who has been to many of these smaller countries, It's the best way to do it.

[@drizzle952]

Excellent video. I'm amazed how fast they all are. I'd be about 5 hours behind in last place lol.

[@KarenPuzzles]

No shame in doing puzzles just for the fun of it!

[@drizzle952]

👍@@KarenPuzzles

[@monaquilts4679]

I think 42 minutes to finish that puzzle was amazing. Great job. My husband and I work the puzzles together and we have one on the table for a week or so…just working it occasionally you are adorable. Nobody should move to finals that didn’t FINISH a puzzle.

[@gabbyfarr3904]

Watching Tereza in the quarterfinals live was INSANE! My jaw was on the ground!

[@BertaRS]

Thank you for this excellent recap. I live in Valladolid and it was great watching the livestreams and was able to visit the dome and see all the participants right there. I bought the Q1 puzzle and let's just say I wouldn't have qualified. 😂 Puzzling is fantastic and I hope to see you all next year too. Can't wait for your next video postcard!

[@trullatube]

After the first day, I was having similar thoughts as you about the country rules - especially since Katie didn't make it - but as you said "Above everything else, it is all about the community.". And in the end, I think it's pretty awesome - and shows the importance of being about community - that including as many countries as possible, for as long as possible, gets more weight than "just" the competition. I really, really love this. (And before I sound like a Hallmark _postcard_, I am ending it right here. 😀 )

[@patmurkland4161]

Really top-level editing and narrative, Karen. Very impressive to watch your growth to this level.

[@tim..indeed]

Personally I think it's remarkable that contestants from so many countries went to Spain and I think it's okay that they enjoy a bye to the second round. It definitely sucks for some contestants who barely missed it but in the end it's only those 300th-350th best puzzlers (mostly from Spain) who miss out on another round, while people from around the world get another chance!

[@michelleives6344]

I love puzzles - I always have a 1000 piece puzzle on the go. However the idea of speed puzzling stresses me out! I can certainly appreciate the skill involved but for me it is contrary to why I do puzzles - to relax and enjoy seeing a beautiful puzzle picture appear day by day before my eyes. After hearing about this concept I tried to do a puzzle fast, which I CAN do but it made me feel so anxious! Hats off to those who can do them fast and don't feel stressed!!!

[@Laserstormelpies]

The thing about the country rule: Before you would have less qualifiers, so just look at it like "more people make it to later rounds in the competition + this worldly event stays more true to its worldly charme" - because they could also let fewer people advance to the next rounds if they didn't add more people on top while also adding the country rule. So... we don't lose anything by bringing more people from all over the world into later parts of the event. So I think its great.

[@claireloub]

I ended up watching most of the live streams over that weekend - I'm a teacher and have hours of marking to do. I felt like I was on first name terms with people like Kristin and Alejandro thanks to your videos last year. Loved Kathi, the Australian shirts, and little Gabi. The people in the chat shouting in all caps for them to show you when they couldn't control the feed got old very quickly but otherwise a very enjoyable calming experience.

[@Riley-hf9li]

I did not walk I ran to go watch this video! I loved watching you compete at worlds!!

[@shaunhartline4951]

Great video. Thank You for taking the time to edit and put this out. Can't wait for the next few videos. So glad you got this opportunity.

[@CocoLicious]

In addition to the fairness comments, if Jigsaw puzzeling worlds would be organized like other sports where the qualifiers would be held in the countries, the result would still be roughly the same - because the fastest person in one country could be literally last place in another. They would still face each other in a country focused competition. (And no offense, but seeing basically an all American finals with a few spanish people here and there would not really be a world competition just because the US has more people and opportunities)

[@jmg999]

This was a great video. As much as the competition matters, it seems that clearly, the community among all of you is what's most important, as it should be. I really enjoyed the fact that you got to meet puzzlers from all over the world, and everyone seemed so nice. I'm glad that you were able to spend this time halfway across the world competing alongside friends. It makes this all that much better. I'm looking forward to your upcoming videos. [postcard]

[@fern-v9s]

OMG, I just opened KZbin to check if you had posted something. Right on time! I get to enjoy my meal with your video

[@KarenPuzzles]

Perfect timing!

[@LegPressWhizzer]

I've been looking forward to your recap videos! Adrenaline dump during any sort of competition is very real and you did an excellent job working through it 👍

[@taylorharvey3980]

i absolutely love the atmosphere here i wish i could go some day i will it's amazing to watch your videos! maybe next year the guy whos been competing since the 80s would be willing to do an interview about how things have changed and stuff thatd be cool

[@remiren9832]

It was intense to watch live! Your edit was wonderful as always. Thank you so much for uplifting me after a hard day 🧩♥️

[@aDifferentJT]

I think the question I would have is what the purpose of this competition is, if it’s for speed puzzlers who want to compete then the unique countries rule doesn’t seem fair, but if the aim is to promote puzzling more widely then I think increasing the number of countries represented in the semifinal and final is going to be a good thing.

[@KarenPuzzles]

Yes, this is what I've been thinking about and this is exactly the point I think I'm going to bring up in the next video.

[@Evan20000]

I didn't even know competitive puzzle solving was a thing until the algorithm brought me here, but I watched the whole thing and had a blast as there's a lot of conceptual skillset carryovers from my personal hobbies. It's always great to see the highest level of competition in any skill and seeing people enthusiastically striving for both self-mastery but also to represent their country well. I liked the designs of the postcard and desktop puzzles the most aesthetically and you did a good job explaining what makes a puzzle difficult or easy to a non-competitor. It's interesting that all of the quarterfinal selections weren't roughly the same difficulty, but I suppose that would potentially make it easier to anticipate what you're getting ahead of time if you saw the Group A's puzzle, so I get why it's like that. Cheers and looking forward to the next videos.

[@kuschelalarm]

Right after the competition I bought the new york postcard puzzle as I just wanted to know how well I'd be able to do 😂 I have never tried speed puzzeling before. In my first atempt I completed it in 2:20 and was a bit disappointed. I searched the internet for speed puzzling tips and was able to cut down my time to 1:57 in the second attempt! So proud of myself! Even if it's nowhere near the 90 minute mark. Watching the whole competition motivated me a lot to try it! It was so much fun!

[@emanuelebabici]

AMAZING REPORTAGE!!! you're so talented, for Alejandro's and Kathi's race you got all my nerves taken! Wooow that was incredible to watch, and amazingly reported as well!!!

[@MS-mv7zi]

The country based qualification is a big controversy in gymnastics, too. In the olympics, only two per country can qualify for each event, even if the top three are from the same country.

[@KarenPuzzles]

I've heard of that but I didn't make the connection to this competition. It's an interesting debate.

[@DawnBurn]

I'm so glad you enjoyed the Postcard. I want to challenge you to rethink, with kindness, on the country rule. Equity is so important. Many countries do not have the same access to the puzzles, the same purchasing power to purchase the puzzles to practice, the same competitions at hours that are during their day for online puzzles. It isn't just "small" countries, but countries that may have large populations (Russia, Brazil, etc.) but less of an Western influence. Ensuring that at least one competitor from the countries make an appearance in the semi-finals is important for the equity of those countries and encouraging puzzlers there to find and discover this hobby.