William’s Puzzle Story:

William (he/him/his) is from California, where he is a theatrical stage manager, specializing in fireworks. He joined the USAJPA as a member after thoroughly enjoying his time at the 2022 National Competition. After meeting so many wonderful folks in the larger puzzling community, he sought a way to continue interacting with more puzzlers across the country. The USAJPA Board is proud to welcome William as an official volunteer, tasked with revitalizing the Member Highlights on our social media platforms!

Like many others, William started casually puzzling in March of 2020. He would visit his family on the weekends, and he and his brother would enjoy passing the time with puzzles. They quickly finished 1000 piece puzzles, and graduated to 2000, 3000, and eventually a few 5000-piece puzzles!

His friend Maggie shared that she attended local puzzle swaps, and encouraged him to see if there were any swaps local to him in Orange County, CA. He discovered these monthly puzzle swaps were a great way of trading for new-to-him puzzles, and getting to know more members of the puzzling community!

Maggie had an interest in going to a puzzle convention and taking part in a speed puzzle competition, and easily convinced William to join her. They placed 44th (out of almost 100 teams) in the USAJPA 2022 Nationals Pairs team, finishing the 500-piece puzzle in 1 hour 16 minutes 12 seconds. They were thrilled with the results of their first competition, as their personal goal was to finish in the top half of participating teams, and to finish under 90 minutes.

There were around 10 members from the Orange County puzzle swap group that attended Nationals, and were interested in more frequent speed puzzle competitions. William collaborated with fellow USAJPA member Lisa M., and they formed the Orange County Speed Puzzlers group. The OCSP events successfully sell out every time, and lovingly emulate the event format conducted at the USAJPA Nationals.

William looks forward to interacting with more USAJPA members across the country, and sharing their stories!

Q&A Time:

What do you enjoy most about puzzling?

“For casual puzzling, I use it as a way to decompress at the end of the day. I put a TV show on in the background that doesn't require watching, and enjoy the puzzle! For speed puzzling, I love the competition atmosphere. I tend to be in the middle of the rankings, and I am quite comfortable with that placement!”

What do you enjoy most about the puzzle community?

“I greatly admire how giving the community is. When I attended my first few swaps, folks were trading puzzles "2-for-1", as a way to declutter their personal puzzle stashes, and that allowed me to grow my personal stash! It was incredibly generous, and two years later I am now at the place where I am able to give to newer swap attendees at a "2-for-1" swap rate so they can grow their stash!”

Do you have a cherished or unforgettable puzzle-related memory?

“For the second Orange County Speed Puzzlers event held on 4/1/23, Ravensburger was the title sponsor, and went above and beyond in what they offered for the competition! Not only did they send us competition puzzles, but they worked with us in designing custom art with their in-house graphic designers for a puzzle with several April Fool’s Day twists! Of course, we had to sneak our names onto the puzzle, so it is (playfully) a point of pride to have my name appear in a custom Ravensburger puzzle!”

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

“I am a self-admitted middle-of-the-pack speed puzzler, so by no means should anyone take my advice! I will instead say that I have been enjoying practice sessions with my two different puzzle partners - my 2022 Nationals Pairs partner, Maggie, and my brother, Frank, who helps me get an average Pairs time ahead of the Orange County Speed Puzzlers competitions. With both puzzle partners, we like dumping the puzzle pieces into the center of the table, then immediately split the piled down the center and pull half the pile to us each individually, then establish communal sorting piles back in the center of the table.”

Connect:

William can be found on Instagram: @the_puzzlear

Orange County Speed Puzzlers: @orange_county_speed_puzzlers