Karen’s Puzzle Story: 

Karen Puzzles (she/her) lives in California, and is a well-known member of the puzzle world through her YouTube channel, which features an enormous range of longform puzzle videos! Although she has casually puzzled her entire life, she started competing in speed puzzling events in 2022. 

She started her YouTube puzzle channel before knowing there was a puzzle community, and feels lucky to be living in Los Angeles where there is a thriving puzzle scene. Karen regularly attends local competitions and puzzle swaps, but now loves seeing her puzzle friends outside of puzzle events because they live in close proximity.

When doing jigsaw puzzles, she loves getting into a flow state where the puzzle is the only thing on which she is focusing. When puzzling and listening to a podcast, she says it occupies her entire brain and it’s like nothing else exists.

Karen Puzzles will be participating in the St. Paul Winter Carnival, the USAJPA Nationals Competition, and hoping to return to Spain for the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship in 2024.

Q&A Time:

What is your best advice for someone who wants to improve their speed puzzling abilities?

“Do a lot of puzzles - multiple puzzles every week. They don't all have to be for speed - in fact I rarely practice speed puzzling outside of the weeks leading up to big competitions. But I think doing a lot of puzzles all of the time builds the muscle memory of how to handle pieces and how to quickly conceptualize and find each piece that you're looking for.”

Are you active in the puzzle community?

“I think most people would agree that I'm somewhat of a leader in this community. It's a big responsibility having such a large audience, so I always try my best to keep my messaging positive, kind, and accepting.”

What do you enjoy most about the puzzle community?

“I love that we all instantly get along because we all have the same hobby (...or obsession?). I feel like everyone who likes puzzles enough to seek out puzzle events usually share a lot of other similar qualities - being analytical, punctual, kind, and smart. So it's almost a self-fulfilling prophecy where anyone who seeks out this community will immediately feel like part of the community. Plus, it's a lot easier to make conversation with new friends when you all have an activity you can do together and talk about.”

Connect:

Karen Puzzles can be found through Instagram and TikTok: @karenpuzzles

YouTube: youtube.com/karenpuzzles