Fierce competition at ND Jigsaw Championship

The fifth annual North Dakota Jigsaw Championship shines attention on a competition thats growing.

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — We’re piecing together the action at the Red River Valley Fair.

“I’ve never been here for the puzzle competition but I heard it’s one of the largest in the world and there is even qualifying rounds so I’m really excited to see what it’s all about,” said Sydney Helgeson, Ms. Red River Valley Fair 2023.

After teams filed in and registered, they sat with their squads to talk strategy. Teams are capped at four members but you are allowed to compete with less than four.

There were some former champions competing again this year so everyone knew the competition would be fierce for the top spot.

“We have a qualifying round in November and a qualifying round in February, so we’ll hit the start button and everyone will start at the same time, and then whatever teams get done the fastest the top 15 from each of those qualifiers will be able to compete in the championship today,” said Elizabeth Birkemeyer, Director of Marketing and Events, RRVF.

The puzzles are five hundred pieces and teams have two hours to complete them.

There is an added twist to the competition. Participants won’t be able to rely solely on the image on the box because the finished physical puzzle will look different.

“Something could be flipped around. It’s a different color, and not quite in the exact same place so that’s just a fun little challenge to add to it as well,” said Birkemeyer.

The winning team knocked out the puzzle in 25 minutes.

“This is the fastest we’ve ever finished a puzzle,” said Andrea Kallstrom.

Alexis Barton, Andrea Kallstrom, Amber Denault and Sarah Rolczynski have been a team for two years and they practice together outside of competition.

“We separate and conquer, we immediately flip all the pieces over, while we’re doing that we sort them by edge and color,” said Kallstrom.

They feel like their chemistry is an advantage.

“You’ve got eight hands they’re reaching for pieces and getting in each others way is probably the biggest impediment of getting a puzzle done,” said Kallstrom.

The ladies won concert tickets, a suite at a RedHawks game and gift cards to Buffalo Wild Wings.