I've only had time to follow the individual rounds. The semifinals were great, prelims were alright except for the landscapes, and the final was kind of a letdown. Although people only compete with the same group, since they got to keep their puzzles, it means that some people got more boring freebies than others. It would be nice if they commissioned the final round's puzzles so it can be designed to have challenging parts but isn't too tedious overall. And having interesting puzzles at the championship can only help Ravensberger's branding, since this is basically like one long commercial. (it would have been Such a move to have a shaped wooden puzzle for the final, given how much they advertised it) I actually like that 1000 piece pairs puzzle that caused a lot of grief, though as just a casual puzzle hahaha

I'm a newbie, just finishing my 9th puzzle, lol. But, I have learned a lot about difficulty levels with puzzles watching the competitions. I think they should have given similar difficulty level puzzles during the preliminaries. I understand everyone is doing the same puzzle, but I'm sure the harder ones are much more brain draining! I don't mind so much during finals if the puzzles are harder, though. It makes it very interesting!

The puzzle choices were interesting. I have never done a speed puzzle before and I finished the qualification B puzzle (The colourful New York postcard) in a little over 90 minutes... This one already looked very easy... The nature puzzles I would have never been able to do in this time. Very variable difficulty. But I feel like they were all managable (for experienced speed puzzlers :D) ... except well pairs final what was that? I'm gonna speed puzzle the round puzzle next and see how I place there ...

This year was our first time watching, since we just started puzzling and watching a bunch of KZfaq puzzlers. We were definitely looking for you and didn't realize there would be 3 Emelia's from Finland, lol. Congrats on making it to the finals. I agree with everything you said about the puzzle choices. I think ultimately, they should have been more equity in the puzzles for the prelims in individual and that pairs puzzle was a disgrace. If only 9 teams can finish that puzzle in 2 hours you're doing something wrong. It would be so disappointing to make the trip and not even get to finish. I also felt like they should have had the pair and individual finals first while people were fresh an then the teams semi finals that evening. The teams would have a whole night to rest up for the finals after that. All in all it was a lot of fun watching though and we will definitely check it out next year.

@@Ceares Yes! And all Emilias (and only Emilias) from Finland made it the the final. I think with the puzzle choices they could have ”fixed” some ”issues” with different scheduling as you mentioned. 🙂 But after all it’s always a learning experience for all!

That sounds perfect, I would be happy to join the commentary booth again. Also feel free to hit me up if you need anything on the management side. I have +10 experience working (unpaid) as a board member in sports clubs, sports associations and voluntary organizations such Red Cross. And ofc on the commercial companies boards nowadays. 🙂

Whaaaat, am I really the first one? That's crazy I have been sick and dying under my workload this week. But I do have to say that there are much more better and experienced puzzle youtubers out there so maybe they are just really perfecting their videos as we speak. I'm sure there will be amazing content from others as well. :) And thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed your weekend full of puzzles!

Haha yeah. I still have hard feelings. And I still haven’t give it a second try. 🥹

That’s true! And no worries, we will chat next time. I was pretty exhausted too so I can only imagine other people!

Muito obrigado! ☺️

Exactly! When non-puzzlers ask how fast I am, I usually tell my best time. Then if I do any puzzle slower than that they are like "are you getting worse" and I go nononononnonono it depends on the PUZZLE! And then ofc combinations between a person and different puzzle. Not that simple, many factors in play.

Thank you so much. It was so much fun!

Thank you so much. I will definitely join next year as well, and I hope they will ask me to join commentary again. It's always nice to hear that native English speakers also enjoy my commentating. :)

Thank you. That means so much to me. I felt a little bit intimidated because most of the other commentators were native English speakers. But it was so much fun! 😄

Thank you! You too!

Thank you! I'm still thinking if I will or will I not finish that pairs final puzzle some day at home. Obviously alone it will take even more time but at least it would done once and for all. :D

Yeah! It was like they took pair puzzles from 2022 for individual now, and all detailed puzzles for pairs 🤣 And thank you. Even though I joined the puzzle community only half a year ago, I really tried to be as much knowledgeable as possible. ☺️

Thank you so much! It was definitely a challenge for me! 😁

Thank you! Were you also watching the live streams during the competition? :)

Great point. All the thanks to the volunteers, they did amazing! Maybe I can ask my husband to join one of my videos to teach us some puzzle vocabulary in Spanish. :D

Yey! Learning is the best - I learned a lot too about everything thanks to this event. I wish the community will keep growing!

Thank you! I think other solution could have also been that they gave us at least 30mins extra time. We were like 10mins from finishing it!

Thank you. Your feedback means a lot for me! ☺️

Thank you so much! I hope I wasn't too loud. The other commentators kept moving my mic further away because I was getting so excited!

Thank you. I think they also said that those puzzles are not really sold at all in the US? Maybe eventually they will have all competition puzzles from new unpublished catalogs. I have to admit that it helped to have a Spanish-speaking husband with me... :D Next year they must put us in different groups so I can see you puzzling!

I’m so happy to hear that! 😍

It is very important! And as said I feel like it was great thing for the audience. Also for the competitive puzzlers I think it's also pretty much cool. But then on the other hand, the event itself is still more of an event for all puzzlers and many know that they really struggle to even finish easier puzzle in less than 90mins. I think that in qualifying rounds it would nice to aim more people finishing to make them feel succeeding even if they don't qualify. Jigsaw puzzles as a competitive sports or even a hobby is not that big thing so we still need to focus on keep growing the base amount of puzzlers around the world. So maybe just a little more easier puzzles for the first round. If many countries would already have puzzle associations and competitions, people could have these experiences already back at home. But now many come to Worlds for their first competition despite what is their level. :) Personally I liked the puzzle choices even though I was bamboozled with the logic :D Just trying to look it more from the bigger picture.

​@puzzlewithemilia I can understand this but I don't think worlds is the place to grow the base.

I agree Emilia! It would be great to let people feel more ‘included’ just because they are able to at least finish the puzzle in the time limit! :) Doesn’t change the amount of people they let into the next round, anyways.

That's very true. The lights were interesting. I'm not 100% sure because I wasn't looking up DURING my group's competition. BUT. After the sunlight went away and some time before by group started, the Dome started to change color every five seconds from blue to violet, red to orange, yellow to green etc. It was driving me nuts. Not sure if it was still on like that during the puzzling... Anyway, very challenging with no natural light!

Whaaaaat, Iris I didn't even realised we were on the same group. Or did I just forget? That puzzle striked us out good and now we are even better :D But yeah, next year I do not want to end my whole competition with an unfinished puzzle...

Thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed all the live streams!

Thank you. I will let them know that I would love to (and that people are asking!). :)

Thank you so much. I’m so happy to hear that people from all around world joined for the live streams!

Glad you enjoyed it! 😊

Haha thank you so much. Some criticism was also edited out. I try to keep it on a positive note :D

I heard about it for the first time this year. So much fun, and so intense! 🤩

I can imaginen that. It's always like that - not only about the comp but in general if you say you are speed puzzling. :D Maybe in few years people will already know what it is before you tell them!

It was like the fastest NOPE of my life when I sat down 😅 And I’m starting to get over the pair final puzzle, maybe I will even finish it at home some day soon.

And the funniest thing was that apparently both Kathi and Alejandro had done that puzzle before. :D I think even better would be if they split the schedule in a way that there wouldn't be two finals + teams event on the same day. Individual final could be on the last day for example before teams final (since individual final is short) or something like that!

Thank you. All I ever wanted was to always do my best and hopefully qualify for the next round. :)

That's very true. However I still think they could and should reproduce old puzzles. Could be a bestseller from 15 years ago. Anyway, as a puzzler myself there wasn't really anything for me to buy there as I already basically had everything. It might be more from the reseller's perspective that what puzzles they already have in their shelves to order more from Ravensburger. Ofc resellers would not have a benefit of a puzzle that is not available for them to order in current catalogs. Which takes me to the fact that maybe thinking other funding possibilities so commercial stuff won't hijack the event (in the future). :)

I agree that competition-wise it was fair. However, I think many people come for the experience and also to consider puzzlers who are not that fast (yet) I think it would be nice to choose easier puzzles for qualification rounds so more people would be able to finish. :)

@@puzzlewithemilia I agree, definitely.

Thank you so much. I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed. :) I think the Dome wasn't suitable venue anymore with almost triple amount participants this year. At least if they do not have venue staff included to the deal. May have taken everyone by surprise!

That's so true. You need to be prepared for anything. For a moment I was afraid that there will be even a wooden puzzle or lightly 3D puzzle. :D

I agree. But I think the main point is that Worlds should not be Ravensburger’s event but a good marketing opportunity for Ravensburger. Looking in with sports association experience and perspective, sponsors should never be organizers or have too much say in competition related decisions. I understand the need for money and resources to organize and everything so that’s why I support for looking into different options for funding. In best case scenario, organizers should be that independed that they could easily choose another sponsor for another year or at least not depend on one specific company to have the event. It’s hard to start reversing after years have passed by if too much ”power” is given to a commercial third parties whether it’s on purpose or by circumtances. I love Ravensburger, I love the event and our federation, I just want to make sure all aspects are considered for the future so sports will stay sports and marketing on it’s on bubble! ☺️

And to clarify. Idk what is the sponsorship deal with Ravensburger or who makes what decision. I could be wrong even though most seem to think the same based on what we see eg with puzzle choise. Just throwing out the idea that if this is indeed happening then here are the risks and maybe let’s avoid it. 😅

I agree, that would be great. It would require more resources because now there is barely 30mins between the groups competing so camera people and commentators need a little break between. ☺️ Maybe they could have different commentator or more like a host doing this kind of content in between!

I need to start some overnight practises getting prepared for the next year. :D

@@puzzlewithemilia 15:21 Your face, lol!

All questions are very welcome. :D I have DJI Mic wireless set. Super easy to use with all devices (phones, cameras or even laptop). It costs something like 350€ in Finland.

Thank you very much ❤

I would like to see a live stream next year from the meeting where they choose these puzzles - to understand what the heck is going on. Unless they just put puzzle names on paper and then pick them up randomly like in the lottery??? 🤣 The bags were almost sad. I felt like I was cheating everytime but it’s like IMPOSSIBLE not to see the puzzle when you are surrounded by them in any direction you look… I didn’t knew that the volunteers were cleaning :( I thought there would have been like venue staff or something. My husband was bringing toilet paper for us from men’s room. But other than that - it was super fun!

You are not the first one to ask this and honestly I have no idea. I would assume not - probably friends or family helping them. It’s very hard to say but I think this would be important information for organizers to have to be able think possible solutions if needed.

Fun casual puzzle for sure. But to be honest. For a competition I would have even preferred to have puzzle of white furry polar bear on a snow storm... than this one. :D

That could definitely play a factor but I was referring more to IOC’s criteria for IF recognisation.

Kiitos. Hauskaa, että pääsit katselemaan ja tykkäsit! Mä luulen, että kattojärjestöön olisi hyvä saada joku joka osaa hakea (esim. julkisia) rahoituksia yms niin saadaan kasvatettua hommaa eikä tarvitse tukeutua vain sponsoreihin. Kuten sanoit niin palapelaajista varmasti löytyy paljon auttavaista porukkaa myös tällaisiin vapaaehtoistehtäviin vuoden aikana. Voisin laittaa heille viestiä ja tarjota apua / ehdottaa että laittavat vaikka kyselyä kisoihin osallistuneile, että minkälaista apua voisi löytyä :)

That’s very true. I hope they will be able to get other funding as well. Sponsors are great and always will be but they should not affect too much on competition related decisions. Otherwise it could eventually become Ravensburger event and not Worlds. :)

I’m the pickiest person in the whole universe 🤣🤣🤣

I think it's because we puzzle people are so eager so the later groups would run to buy that puzzle to practice before their turn. :D Also from a future point of view for having jigsaw puzzles officially as sports events I think it's important to keep it interesting for an audience (but that's just me as a business person talking).

@@puzzlewithemilia That makes sense.

I think (I might be wrong) it was probably a bit boring also for the audience as ”nothing” happened before 1h and 32mins. So also from that point of view I wish they would chosen a different puzzle. :)

Yes. That's my official ranking among world's fastest puzzlers. Did you participate? :)

I think it would be interesting if they would make a video or something where they explain the choosing proces for this year. ☺️

Thank you! ☺️

Well, I will never forget to mention the important stuff like 🌮🛎️

Thank you so much. It was a great first-time experience!