That’s a great question, but like the St. Ives problem, it has many correct answers. The Guinness world records that are relative to jigsaw puzzles are numerous and varied:
- Most pieces
- Largest size
- Fastest solution
The thing about world records is that they’re an adventurous dip into the global enthusiasm that exists for jigsaw puzzles. So buckle up, and let’s do some solid delving into all things jigsaw puzzles.
World Record for Most Pieces in a Jigsaw Puzzle
Have you ever dared to try your hand at a2000-piece puzzle? It’s definitely an accomplishment, but unfortunately, it can’t even begin to compare to the record holder from September 24, 2011. That puzzle had 551,232 pieces!
It was completed in a mind-crushing 17 hours, but when you learn that it was a team effort of 1600 students, it seems a little more doable. These students were attending the University of Economics at Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, and this was probably just a side project. Unless we know nothing about economics, that is.
That many people stretched out over a jigsaw puzzle would require it to be pretty enormous, wouldn’t you think?
You’d be correct. This puzzle measured about 50 by 75 feet, with a little conversion from metric to standard and some rounding. Let’s just say that you’re not going to get anywhere with this monster trying to solve it on your kitchen table. They took over the campus gym for this one.
The puzzle image featured a six-leaved lotus flower representing what Vietnamese students recognize as the six major domains of knowledge, which obviously include “how to solve ridiculously huge jigsaw puzzles.” They smashed the previous record from 2002, which had a mere 212,323 pieces. Easy peasy.
World Record for the Largest Jigsaw Puzzle Size
As totally amazing as that world record from Ho Chi Minh City is, that roughly 3750 square foot jigsaw puzzle isn’t the largest one ever solved. That honor belongs to a puzzle that clocked in at just a tick over 20,000 square feet.
The world’s largest jigsaw puzzle had a mere 12,320 pieces, and it was completely assembled on July 7, 2018, in Dubai to celebrate Sheikh Zayed, the late founder of the UAE.
The image on the puzzle featured the Year of Zayed logo. It was a particularly challenging feat, considering the entire puzzle image was black and white, and it was completely exposed to the elements, being constructed entirely outdoors.
When they were done with the puzzle at the end of the festivities, Dubai completely recycled every puzzle piece, which seems overly considerate, seeing as how we would want to have the thing framed and hung on the wall in the hallway. It’s not every day you solve jigsaw puzzles with more than 12,000 pieces.
World Record for Fastest Solution of a Jigsaw Puzzle
You knew this had to be coming. Some people use jigsaw puzzles to relax. Others obviously don’t. Some people feel the need to make a competition out of everything. Before you know it, people will be racing cars or horses or something.
250-Piece Puzzle Record
First, you need to know that Guinness doesn’t let you bring your own puzzle to the tryout. They have their own jigsaw puzzles for world records and for many good reasons. Chief among those is the fact that any world record would be illegitimate if held by someone who had ever seen or solved the puzzle in advance.
Therefore, when Deepika Ravichandran broke the record in 2014 by solving an oval-shaped, imageless 250-piece puzzle in 13 minutes and 7 seconds, it spoke volumes about her ability. This teenager from Connecticut had a habit of solving at least one500-piece puzzle per day, so she was well practiced.
The event was part of a fundraising effort at her school to feed 250 needy children, making this girl one of those people you read of in blogs about amazing people doing amazing, selfless things we mere mortals cannot hope to achieve. But it’s cool that there are still good people in the world.
500-Piece Puzzle Record
Believe it or not (we’re not trying to do a mashup of Guinness and Ripley, we promise), doubling the piece count of any jigsaw puzzle actually quadruples its difficulty. That’s why it’s so amazing that Joellen Beifuss holds the record for a 500-piece puzzle (having never seen it before, same as Deepika Ravichandran) at 54 minutes and 10 seconds.
Fun, Random World Records for Jigsaw Puzzles
We’re running out of space more quickly than a puzzler with a1500-piece puzzle to solve, but there’s so much more to report on the wacky world of jigsaw puzzle records.
Largest Jigsaw Puzzle Collection
Luiza Figueiredo probably thinks your collection of 50 or even 100 jigsaw puzzles is adorable. That’s because hers contains 2047 puzzles.
Largest Puzzle Completed Underwater
We’re going back to Dubai for this one, and that’s odd, considering how Dubai is built on nothing but sand and is subject to a harsh desert climate. Even weirder, this record was a police effort. That’s right; the Dubai police solved a 550-square-foot jigsaw puzzle completely underwater in December of 2013.
Most Expensive Jigsaw Puzzle Sold at Auction
Rachel Page Elliott is pretty well known in the puzzle world for her fine attention to the smallest detail in her handmade jigsaw puzzles, often producing puzzles within puzzles with her intricate piece cuts. One of her puzzles sold at auction in 2005 for $27,000. We wonder what the on-sale price might have been.
Are You a Future Record Holder?
Maybe one day, we’ll be writing about you. The best way to give yourself a shot at the title is to solve as many jigsaw puzzles as possible. Take a cue from any of the jigsaw celebrities in this little pantheon, and get your practice sessions in.
If you’re not interested in holding a world record, you can still enjoy jigsaw puzzling for fun. And if you’re just getting started, there are100-piece puzzles you can easily solve and even involve the kiddos!
