Andrea and Clara’s Puzzle Story: 

Mother/Daughter duo, Andrea (she/her) and Clara (she/her) both live in California, and took 5th place in Pairs at the 2023 World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship in Spain! Andrea has casually puzzled for more than 40 years, and Clara has been puzzling since she was little. They both see puzzling as a meaningful activity in their household, hosting their own in-home competitions during the holidays! 

Clara is focusing on her schooling, but Andrea attends various competitions throughout the year, and is looking forward to participating in the St. Paul Winter Carnival for the first time. Andrea appreciates the vibrant puzzling community in her area, and Clara enjoys tagging along with those puzzle buddies when visiting home. Puzzling is clearly a family affair!

Q&A Time:

Are you active in the puzzle community? 

Andrea: “I love to puzzle socially, whether it be inviting friends over to spend time at my home, or at local speed puzzling events. I have attended many puzzle swaps in the area and have recently started hosting one at my neighborhood library. I got my start through Jonathan's SpeedPuzzling.com events and was able to learn all the local puzzlers through that too!

What do you enjoy most about puzzling? 

Clara: “Being away for high school means that during vacations I always want to do everything that feels like home, and puzzling is exactly that!”

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

Andrea: “Consider shape sorting! It was a big time saver in our group events!”

What do you enjoy most about the puzzle community?

Clara: ”I've never met a puzzler I didn't like! Everybody is so kind, I'm so happy to know everybody. It's hard to be anything but happy when you're working jigsaws.”

Connect: 

Andrea can be found through Instagram: @penguins_puzzle

Clara can be found through Instagram: @puzzledinwonderland