Oh man, after hundreds of hours of working on it, I can't believe this video is finally done 😭 If you missed the first video about the prelim rounds, you can watch it here: ua-cam.com/video/0MljsZ0NKRA/v-deo.html Also, if you want to support me in using my time to make these long, involved videos, I have a Patreon with over a year's worth of bonus videos on it: patreon.com/karenpuzzles
Thank you @KarenPuzzles , coming from some who has never watched puzzles on UA-cam and only have completed 5-10 puzzles myself. You have kept me and my wife completely enthralled with your puzzle competition videos! Congratulations to Alice and You!
I love how nice the competitive puzzling competitions seem. Everyone cheering for someone to finish isn't something you see all the time, it's super wholesome, love to see it :3
It’s also a thing in NES Tetris and most speedrunning communities I find, I think it’s a lot more common in anything where you compete in parallel rather than directly interacting with each other!
@@iimuffinsaur The recent story of “NES Tetris being beat for the first time ever” where the direct competitor stopped playing his own attempts to instead watch the stream of the winning game and cheering him on was amazing
Alice winning first place truly has me crying. everyone was so welcoming of her and so happy for her winning. like the puzzling community is so kind and EVERYONE FINISHED!!!!!! THAT'S AWESOMEEEEE
“You could do this as a wedding guest book” - that’s what I did last August for my wedding except I used a jumbo kids floor puzzle with bigger pieces so that my younger guests could draw pictures instead of having to sign it & older family members could write well wishes. My husband & I plan on putting it together every year on our anniversary 😊
I can't help but agree with other commenters, the quality of your competition recaps is just unmatched. I'm more than happy to chip in through Patreon to continue watching these and of course all your other videos as well. 😊 I especially love all the puzzle detective videos and other deep dives into a specific topic. Lots of love from Finland!
With full sincerity, these videos are some of my yearly youtube highlights. Thank you for all of the work you put into planning, competing, documenting, and editing these videos about your really cool community. I can't wait for worlds!!
I definitely understand Alice's logic behind leaving those pieces right where they were instead of bringing them closer. She'd probably subconsciously memorized "there's a piece that might fit that blank over there" and any extra effort to move the pieces minimally closer would have disrupted that. I doubt the fraction of a second delay of reaching further to move the piece would have been worth the extra full second (or more) to re-locate that piece instead of just grabbing it where she already knew it was at. Definitely congrats to Alice! Hope we'll see her in future puzzle contest vids!
Karen talked about that a little bit last nationals. She said since she wasn’t working with a teammate she knew that the pieces were gonna exactly where she left them when she needed them.
I was a competitor in all three events. In the pairs final, I passed out next to our table just after we finished. (It's intense, people!) William Shandling, the beloved volunteer in Mickey Mouse ears, immediately came to assist and was so, so kind and helpful. (I think I was dehydrated. I was fine after resting and drinking a ton of water.) So special shout-out to William S, and all the volunteers! 🫶 We couldn't do any of this without you.
They should have a 5 min mandatory break for the two puzzle competitions IMO. You finish one puzzle and you HAVE to take a break. Ensures people are safe!
I love having Solidly Second Sarah’s commentary. That by far was one of my favorite moments in this video. I loved seeing Alice take first in individuals and the support she had from the community!
Something about Sarah getting 2nd every single time was so funny, she mentioned it in one of the interviews later in the livestreams and I was laughing so hard when she continued to get 2nd in the rest of the competitions too. Thanks so much for turning me on to puzzle competition livestreams, they're amazing for getting crafts done!! so excited for the next
I do about one puzzle every 5 years probably, but I enjoy these videos coz the community is so wholesome. All the top puzzlers rushing to hug and congratulate Alice after they finish. It must be so nice for her to be welcomed like that. And also everyone cheering for Chad had me in happy tears
After years of watching your competition recaps I never stop being in awe of their quality. Just really top notch production. Your efforts do not go unnoticed!!!
Karen, I cant tell you how much I appreciate your coverages of these competitions. You put so much heart and work into it and it shows. Very well done! This was sooo good
Some titbits about the artwork from the livestream: ‘Busy Birdies’ was a silly name by Ravensburger. The artist wanted to call it ‘A Bird’s Life’ because it shows them at all stages of an anthropomorphized life. (Edit: I wrote this from memory and have only now, watching this video a second time, noticed that that clip was actually included here. Apologies for the redundancy.) The mandala one is not some kind of digital art. It is a photo of real hand-painted stones. Incredibly stunning work! The hedgehog wedding is an Easter egg to the artist’s previous design(s). There is a self-portrait of the artist in one of the hot-air balloon baskets. (Edit: Oh no, this is in this video too! I can’t believe I missed so much the first time!)
It's possible the was "A Bird's Life" by another puzzle company or because there's a book by the same name, they didn't want to deal with the possible copyright hassle (even if the confusion should hopefully be minimal).
@@emma70707Yes, I just wanted to explain what the artist’s intention for the content of the picture was. I don’t mind that they changed the name but I do think that Ravensburger chooses too many babyish, alliterative names.
Actually, ok, this is a slightly different thing, but now that I'm thinking about it, I could totally see a contemporary romance novel being published in the next few years that's about two puzzlers who meet at a puzzle competition, probably with a Rivals to Lovers twist. Like, maybe they share a table at the Individuals preliminary round and get almost the exact same time, and maybe there's a dispute about a piece. Maybe one of them qualifies and the other one just misses the cutoff - but then someone else drops out for whatever reason (family emergency at home? got disqualified?) and they get to participate in the finals after all. And the whole weekend is just these two people finding themselves seated close to each other at all the events, as well as having a bunch of friends in common and slowly learning to appreciate each other. Or maybe it happens over a longer period of time - person A has been going to smaller puzzling competitions for a few years and they always find themselves within a few spots of Person B, to the point where they have this internal competition going on, like "I don't care what place I get, but I /have/ to beat B", even though they've never even met and B is just a name on a paper. But unbeknownst to them, B has the same attitude, and the two of them keep training and getting better to beat each other until they're actually pretty highly ranked, and then they go to Nationals for the first time and don't know who the other is and hit it off and then they realize and it's Betrayal! Drama! How dare this person I kinda like turn out to be my arch nemesis! (But of course they figure it out in the end.) Or maybe it's not a romance at all, just a type A "my parents had high expectations and puzzling was my only escape" person going "I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to WIN" and generally taking the whole thing much more seriously than it warrants (like to a comical degree - trying to be cutthroat when everyone else is just being wholesome), but learning to unwind and let go of some trauma through the power of Friendship and Community. 🥰✨ Really, lots of fun directions you could take it.
It could happen! They did a sports anime about karuta ( *Chihayafuru* ) which is an equally nerdy sport from Japan. It's a competitive sport where each side has 25 cards (50 total) out of a deck of 100. On each of those 100 cards is the second half of a classical poem from the *Hyakunin Isshu* (One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each). A specialized reader for classical poems reads the first half of a poem. If that poem is on the opponent's side, you have to slap it as soon as you recognize it to take it and remove the card from play. If it's on your side, you have to protect it from the slap. Since only 50 poems are in play on the field, you need to be careful, because touching a card when the poem being read isn't on the field is a penalty.
OMG, the huge puzzle at the end was so cool!! Congratulations to Alice, it was so awesome to see her come out of nowhere and win the whole thing. And thank you, Karen, for all your hard work putting together these massive videos. I love watching them!
"with so many new fast people joining the sport..." because of YOU Karen! :)) You're the reason the sport has all these new people. You're elevating the sport as a whole with the videos and visibility. Honestly I feel like that's even better than getting 1st place at nationals. To elevate an entire sport and usher in a new generation of players? that's an even bigger accomplishment.
I didn't know speed puzzling was a thing before I found your channel and I'm so tempted to try. Also, I went to a flea market downtown (Malmö, Sweden) last saturday and started talking to a woman who sold puzzles who had also found speed puzzling through your channel! Thank you for sharing this wonderful hobby worldwide
I loved what the commentator said about you bringing so many people to the speed puzzling community. I am actually not a fan of completing puzzles at all, but i love watching all of your videos and have looked up other puzzlers as well because of you. This is a great video, i can tell this took a lot of work!
I remember watching the individuals final live, and Alice just blew me away. I was so happy for her, I even teared up a bit. 🥰 Sarah placing second in every competition she was in sure sucks when only the winners get cash prizes, but still, this is such an awesome achievement. She is such a good and so very consistent puzzler! Absolutely amazing! 😍 The Shandling Shim: genius idea! 🤩 And speaking of which, there were so many great ideas happening around this event. Sounds like an absolute blast, and done with a lot of heart. ♥
I bet all the competitors are so grateful to have your videos as souvenirs. The live streams were great and I watched every second of them, but they’re not going to rewatch them in their entirety in twenty years’ time
one thing i love is the high fives after the teams finish! 😂 everyone does it differently and it’s always a little awkward and sarah’s outtakes are golden 🤣
Every time I see one of these competition videos, I just can't get over how overwhelmingly positive everyone in this community is. There is obvious competitiveness there, but everyone is so excited for how well everyone else is doing in addition to their own success, it's just heartwarming. That, and I canNOT with the idea to do a wedding guest list with puzzle pieces like how the raffle was done. What a cute idea and wonderful keepsake.
Congratulations to everyone, particularly Alice, what a remarkable accomplishment! It has been great seeing the community flourish so quickly, and I'm sure that your videos have been a *major* contributor to that growth. Thanks Karen, the work you put in is evident and your videos are world-class. Here's to continued success in all your endeavors!
I love how you’ve included the livestream commentary on your recap videos, they do such a great job, and Sarah’s outtakes made me laugh so hard. Great quality video Karen 😊
I rarely leave any comments under UA-cam video, but this time I had to! Karen, this video of competition coverage was worth the wait. Thank you for putting so much effort- the storyline, the narrative, funny sections, the appreciation for the winners- you add so much to the whole event. Your vision in the video is an event on its own the we as the viewers gathered to attend!! Thank you for the entertainment, Karen! You are doing a great job! I hope you know it ❤
It’s crazy I never would’ve thought I’d enjoy puzzle content much less puzzle competition content, but Karen does such an amazing job narrating and compiling and it’s just so compelling. Got me to do a puzzle for the first time since I was a kid. ❤
Great recap!!! I remember being up in the Casual Room when puzzle 2 was revealed for the teams puzzle and everyone as a group said "ooooooh nooooo" So much fun watching this & I'm still so happy I finished 99th in the individuals!!
As soon as I saw Alice’s preliminary round on the live stream I didn’t want anyone else to win. I don’t think she was really overwhelmed - just surprised and humble.
As someone who doesn't do puzzles and has basically zero interest in them, your videos caught me by surprise. I don't know if it's just how well made your videos are, or your engaging personality, or your puzzling skill, but I keep watching your videos and enjoying every second of it. Nice to hear you get a well-deserved shout out from the commentators for helping build the community. Great job, Karen!
I've never had an interest in puzzling outside of your videos, Karen, but I absolutely love to see how much this community is driven by a sense of passion and community, how everyone wants to support each other and how open-minded everyone is. It warms my heart in a time where hatred between humans seems at an all time high. Thank you for that!
What a lovely community you are! As much, as I loved the competition part, the last part of all the fun you had, was just the best! Wonderful people you are!
Playing with the giant puzzle at the end looked amazing! A cathartic end to the video as well as to the competition,. Who has ever filmed anything like that for puzzles? As you like to say, we are living in the golden age of jigsaw puzzles and that is an amazing thing to celebrate and enjoy and be grateful for as humans in community with each other.
Appreciation post for sarah, Almost feels like she's always finishing in second. This video had me rooting for her the whole time. Love from the UK Sarah!
55:07 So sweet that they acknowledged just how much Karen has brought to the puzzling community. Even though I don't compete and never will, lol, I love watching the various competition videos she puts out. 💛
Karen, the time and energy you put into editing these is so worth it! You are an amazing story teller. I had tears in my eyes, I was nervous and joyful! What a beautiful video!
The editing on this video was phenomenal (as it is on every video) and was well worth the wait! I love how you don’t only focus on yourself but also on your fellow puzzlers! Alice was definitely unexpected but she rose to the top! Sarah’s commentary was GOLD, great addition! I love doing puzzles but I could never compete because I am a slow processer and it takes me forever to finish a 500 piece puzzle, doing it in under an hour is impressive! I love how everyone was cheering for the last person to finish, the community that has been created is so important! I’m looking forward to your next video! Nice work Karen! ❤️
Dude I absolutely adore Alice Rowe. Here’s this unassuming, pint-sized kid nobody’s ever heard of, she just showed up to compete and maybe meet some of her heroes… turns out she’s this year’s fastest puzzler in the country. Who knew, right?
Thanks for another awesome video, Karen! I've been watching your videos for the last few years. I've enjoyed them all! And thanks for saying such nice things about my puzzle! It was nice to hang out with you at Nationals again!
Congratulations to all of you, particularly Alice Rowe! The editing of coverage produced creates a very engaging video. Thanks to Ravensburger to sponsoring you so you are able to do this Karen. I am not a puzzler, other than 24 piece ones I do with my little grandson I have never done one :) I like to watch because it is a fun community and a very wholesome activity - who knew puzzling was a thing?? I may actually do a puzzle one day (I like the Jane Wooster Scott art so that may push me to do it!).
This video was so worth the wait! Thank you Karen! The end of the video had me tearing up. You showing just how kind and welcoming the puzzle competition community is. So unbelievably sweet and it makes me so happy to see all of you enjoying a pretty niche hobby with each other! And huge congratulations to Alice! What a sweep! Absolutely astounding.
The whole video was great, good pacing and intriguing. But oh my gosh it really took off to a whole other level in the last third. I couldn't stop smiling. I've been watching your channel since YT recommended you to me about 1.5 years ago, being a Patreon for a few months. First being just relaxing videos to watch, you steadily increased my interest. Worlds 2023 and your coverage ignited my puzzle fever. Never having puzzled before (I do like building Legos, so a bit similar), I've been doing it since and am at about 16 finished 1000 piece ones. At the end of the video - about the community, the meetups, the 51000 piece one - I found a little bit of myself in all of you there. I've discovered a handful of colleagues and friends here in Germany, that are also puzzling, so I'm also not alone 🙂. So in all, a huge thank you. You've changed part of my life for the better. Those long videos of yours are worth your effort, and our time to watch 🥰.
Gosh I wish we had this level of competition in the UK, I’m so very envious of all your wonderful connections with fellow puzzle people! It’s just so beautiful. Love love love this! Xx
Such a great video covering such a great event! The commentator at about 55 mins is totally right, you've brought so much awareness to speed puzzling (and just shamelessly loving puzzles in general) with your videos, and I'm so glad you did! So thank you! Everyone here is so awesome Good luck at Worlds!!
Congratulations Alice! What a debut. And congratulations Karen for putting together such a masterful compilation. And I loved the ending. Congratulations Ravensburger for making all those beautiful puzzles available.
Congratulations to Alice, and everyone who was there!!! Those puzzles were hard! Great coverage of the competition ... thanks for competing and the condensed version of it all 😊
Wonderful coverage of the Nationals, I felt like I was there. Looked like everyone had a great time, endless smiles and hugs for each competitor. Congratulations on your finishes. Loved all the puzzles this year, especially the Busy Birdies and the "largest puzzle pickup” 👍👍👍
Thank you @KarenPuzzles , coming from some who has never watched puzzles on UA-cam and only have completed 5-10 puzzles myself. You have kept me and my wife completely enthralled with your puzzle competition videos! Congratulations to Alice and You!
After watching your videos for a while now, ive decided to enter into a local competition happening in my country in July. Didn’t know speed puzzling was a thing. I love puzzles but I’m not competitive with them I just like doing them for fun. ☺️
Thank you so much, Karen! I really appreciate all your hard work. What blows my mind is that you not only have your footage, you also go through the livestream and search for the right commentary. It's just crazy thinking about all the hours you put into it. It's trully worth it! It shows through the whole video. Thank you for that! Thanks for bringing such competition to a wider audience and to show how nice the community is, how fun the competitions seems and just to get to know more about puzzles and speed puzzeling in general.
So exciting for a new, young puzzler to come in and win. And I just love how supportive everyone is of their fellow competitors. What a wholesome community.
Karen, thank you so much for that amazing coverage! That was quite a lot! Congratulations on your success in the competition and your signing! Alice... WOW!!! Congratulations to you! That was amazing to watch!
BIG congratulations to Alice and all of the other competitors!! ✨🌺 That event looked so amazing and heartwarming, I wish I can take part in an event like that ever in the future
Thank you for putting together these competition recap videos. The storytelling and scene setting are compelling, the camera work is beautiful and the editing is fantastic. Thank you for all your hard work.
What a fantastic video, Karen! Your commentary, analysis, editing, and extras make for a most enjoyable viewing experience. This community of people give off such a good vibe and these events are so uplifting. Thanks!
Alice! What a star. Can't wait to see how she does at worlds! Thanks for the great videos Karen. I can tell how much love you put into each one of these and your positivity absolutely comes through. I've been a lifelong puzzler, and you've made it 'cool' again - thank you!
Everyone was so fast! Thanks for your awesome coverage. I’d been avoiding watching the livestream since I knew you’d do an awesome job covering it. Congrats to Alice and all the other top puzzlers! You guys will give Alejandro a run for his money in September!
Congrats Alice! Karen, thank you for making another fun piece for us to live vicariously through you as we watch! I think it is a very special talent to be able to work in such close quarters with team mates piece-fully ;)
I watched live, so this video is going to be fabulous! Thank you for showing me puzzle competitions exist! 😂 the blue celestial puzzle was my favorite of the day.
Karen, I LOVE your videos. Your editing skills are off the chart! You're story telling through every scene. I can tell how well thought out your videos are.
This may be the most fun UA-cam video I have seen for a while!!!! Ahhh, thank you so much for all the production involved :) it’s such a nice community
And charts!!! I’ll be honest, I’ve stolen some of your lovely chart formats for my very corporate analytics job 😅🙋🏼♀️ thanks for the ideas and quality work!!!
Oh man, after hundreds of hours of working on it, I can't believe this video is finally done 😭 If you missed the first video about the prelim rounds, you can watch it here: ua-cam.com/video/0MljsZ0NKRA/v-deo.html
Also, if you want to support me in using my time to make these long, involved videos, I have a Patreon with over a year's worth of bonus videos on it: patreon.com/karenpuzzles
You are so lovely! 😍
„Now it is Roiter against Roiter“…😂😂😂, that sounded so dangerous when you said it, as if a new world was going to break out 😅
Chad IS a Speed Puzzler! Normal People take much longer. Chad! YAY! 😀
Thank you @KarenPuzzles , coming from some who has never watched puzzles on UA-cam and only have completed 5-10 puzzles myself. You have kept me and my wife completely enthralled with your puzzle competition videos! Congratulations to Alice and You!
The entirety of my puzzle competition knowledge comes from ur vids and they’re always so well made. ❤❤
"I think this puzzle should come with free therapy" the whole Sarah commentary was hilarious 😂
Can we just have Sarah's mic added as a secondary audio track to the live stream next time?
Sarah seems to be such a fun person!
All y'all's comments make me tear up!!! So sweet
You absolutely smashed it! Kinda sucks you didn't get paid 😂 but overall, nobody did better, so you're the real #1 I think 😎
She is such a gem!!!
I love how nice the competitive puzzling competitions seem. Everyone cheering for someone to finish isn't something you see all the time, it's super wholesome, love to see it :3
Depends. I see it a lot. Probably depends on the activity.
Honestly it’s the same in the rock climbing community.
It’s also a thing in NES Tetris and most speedrunning communities I find, I think it’s a lot more common in anything where you compete in parallel rather than directly interacting with each other!
@@snowfloofcathug The NES Tetris community is so sweet. Everyone is just excited for records to be broken, doesnt matter if its them or someone else.
@@iimuffinsaur The recent story of “NES Tetris being beat for the first time ever” where the direct competitor stopped playing his own attempts to instead watch the stream of the winning game and cheering him on was amazing
Alice winning first place truly has me crying. everyone was so welcoming of her and so happy for her winning. like the puzzling community is so kind and EVERYONE FINISHED!!!!!! THAT'S AWESOMEEEEE
“You could do this as a wedding guest book” - that’s what I did last August for my wedding except I used a jumbo kids floor puzzle with bigger pieces so that my younger guests could draw pictures instead of having to sign it & older family members could write well wishes. My husband & I plan on putting it together every year on our anniversary 😊
I can't help but agree with other commenters, the quality of your competition recaps is just unmatched. I'm more than happy to chip in through Patreon to continue watching these and of course all your other videos as well. 😊 I especially love all the puzzle detective videos and other deep dives into a specific topic. Lots of love from Finland!
Thank you! And get ready because I’m starting my research on a very interesting vintage puzzle I just came across 👀
With full sincerity, these videos are some of my yearly youtube highlights. Thank you for all of the work you put into planning, competing, documenting, and editing these videos about your really cool community. I can't wait for worlds!!
Thank you Ariel! ❤️
faves supporting faves!!!!
I definitely understand Alice's logic behind leaving those pieces right where they were instead of bringing them closer. She'd probably subconsciously memorized "there's a piece that might fit that blank over there" and any extra effort to move the pieces minimally closer would have disrupted that. I doubt the fraction of a second delay of reaching further to move the piece would have been worth the extra full second (or more) to re-locate that piece instead of just grabbing it where she already knew it was at.
Definitely congrats to Alice! Hope we'll see her in future puzzle contest vids!
That's a good point!
Karen talked about that a little bit last nationals. She said since she wasn’t working with a teammate she knew that the pieces were gonna exactly where she left them when she needed them.
I was a competitor in all three events. In the pairs final, I passed out next to our table just after we finished. (It's intense, people!) William Shandling, the beloved volunteer in Mickey Mouse ears, immediately came to assist and was so, so kind and helpful. (I think I was dehydrated. I was fine after resting and drinking a ton of water.) So special shout-out to William S, and all the volunteers! 🫶 We couldn't do any of this without you.
Oh no, that's so scary! I'm glad you're ok!
They should have a 5 min mandatory break for the two puzzle competitions IMO. You finish one puzzle and you HAVE to take a break. Ensures people are safe!
@@dontknowdocareThat's a great idea!
THE IDEA OF LET A GIANT PUZZLE SO EVERYONE CAN COME AND DO A PART ON THE FREE TIME IS SO NICE 😊
I love having Solidly Second Sarah’s commentary. That by far was one of my favorite moments in this video. I loved seeing Alice take first in individuals and the support she had from the community!
I'm going to go by that official title now 🤣
The Sarah Schuler Outtake Reel was impeccable. I laughed so much 😆
Something about Sarah getting 2nd every single time was so funny, she mentioned it in one of the interviews later in the livestreams and I was laughing so hard when she continued to get 2nd in the rest of the competitions too. Thanks so much for turning me on to puzzle competition livestreams, they're amazing for getting crafts done!! so excited for the next
To win, you gotta beat me 🤷🏼♀️ I'm so proud of my consistency!
I'm glad the disaster was a dented tray, and not losing an entire edge to the floor.
I do about one puzzle every 5 years probably, but I enjoy these videos coz the community is so wholesome. All the top puzzlers rushing to hug and congratulate Alice after they finish. It must be so nice for her to be welcomed like that. And also everyone cheering for Chad had me in happy tears
After years of watching your competition recaps I never stop being in awe of their quality. Just really top notch production. Your efforts do not go unnoticed!!!
Karen, I cant tell you how much I appreciate your coverages of these competitions. You put so much heart and work into it and it shows. Very well done! This was sooo good
That means so much to me ❤️
Some titbits about the artwork from the livestream:
‘Busy Birdies’ was a silly name by Ravensburger. The artist wanted to call it ‘A Bird’s Life’ because it shows them at all stages of an anthropomorphized life. (Edit: I wrote this from memory and have only now, watching this video a second time, noticed that that clip was actually included here. Apologies for the redundancy.)
The mandala one is not some kind of digital art. It is a photo of real hand-painted stones. Incredibly stunning work!
The hedgehog wedding is an Easter egg to the artist’s previous design(s).
There is a self-portrait of the artist in one of the hot-air balloon baskets. (Edit: Oh no, this is in this video too! I can’t believe I missed so much the first time!)
It's possible the was "A Bird's Life" by another puzzle company or because there's a book by the same name, they didn't want to deal with the possible copyright hassle (even if the confusion should hopefully be minimal).
titbits lol
@@emma70707Yes, I just wanted to explain what the artist’s intention for the content of the picture was. I don’t mind that they changed the name but I do think that Ravensburger chooses too many babyish, alliterative names.
I keep imagining what a sports anime about competitive jigsaw puzzling would look like and I want it to exist
+
Actually, ok, this is a slightly different thing, but now that I'm thinking about it, I could totally see a contemporary romance novel being published in the next few years that's about two puzzlers who meet at a puzzle competition, probably with a Rivals to Lovers twist.
Like, maybe they share a table at the Individuals preliminary round and get almost the exact same time, and maybe there's a dispute about a piece. Maybe one of them qualifies and the other one just misses the cutoff - but then someone else drops out for whatever reason (family emergency at home? got disqualified?) and they get to participate in the finals after all. And the whole weekend is just these two people finding themselves seated close to each other at all the events, as well as having a bunch of friends in common and slowly learning to appreciate each other.
Or maybe it happens over a longer period of time - person A has been going to smaller puzzling competitions for a few years and they always find themselves within a few spots of Person B, to the point where they have this internal competition going on, like "I don't care what place I get, but I /have/ to beat B", even though they've never even met and B is just a name on a paper. But unbeknownst to them, B has the same attitude, and the two of them keep training and getting better to beat each other until they're actually pretty highly ranked, and then they go to Nationals for the first time and don't know who the other is and hit it off and then they realize and it's Betrayal! Drama! How dare this person I kinda like turn out to be my arch nemesis! (But of course they figure it out in the end.)
Or maybe it's not a romance at all, just a type A "my parents had high expectations and puzzling was my only escape" person going "I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to WIN" and generally taking the whole thing much more seriously than it warrants (like to a comical degree - trying to be cutthroat when everyone else is just being wholesome), but learning to unwind and let go of some trauma through the power of Friendship and Community. 🥰✨
Really, lots of fun directions you could take it.
It could happen! They did a sports anime about karuta ( *Chihayafuru* ) which is an equally nerdy sport from Japan. It's a competitive sport where each side has 25 cards (50 total) out of a deck of 100. On each of those 100 cards is the second half of a classical poem from the *Hyakunin Isshu* (One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each). A specialized reader for classical poems reads the first half of a poem. If that poem is on the opponent's side, you have to slap it as soon as you recognize it to take it and remove the card from play. If it's on your side, you have to protect it from the slap. Since only 50 poems are in play on the field, you need to be careful, because touching a card when the poem being read isn't on the field is a penalty.
@@dado__ that sounds amazing, thanks for the info!
The last puzzler Chad can still do it about 3 hours faster than I can
OMG, the huge puzzle at the end was so cool!! Congratulations to Alice, it was so awesome to see her come out of nowhere and win the whole thing. And thank you, Karen, for all your hard work putting together these massive videos. I love watching them!
"with so many new fast people joining the sport..." because of YOU Karen! :)) You're the reason the sport has all these new people. You're elevating the sport as a whole with the videos and visibility. Honestly I feel like that's even better than getting 1st place at nationals. To elevate an entire sport and usher in a new generation of players? that's an even bigger accomplishment.
I didn't know speed puzzling was a thing before I found your channel and I'm so tempted to try.
Also, I went to a flea market downtown (Malmö, Sweden) last saturday and started talking to a woman who sold puzzles who had also found speed puzzling through your channel! Thank you for sharing this wonderful hobby worldwide
I loved what the commentator said about you bringing so many people to the speed puzzling community. I am actually not a fan of completing puzzles at all, but i love watching all of your videos and have looked up other puzzlers as well because of you. This is a great video, i can tell this took a lot of work!
I love seeing the Roiters compete against each other. And I remember the day they said they would not do it. And now they are. Amazing!
I remember watching the individuals final live, and Alice just blew me away. I was so happy for her, I even teared up a bit. 🥰
Sarah placing second in every competition she was in sure sucks when only the winners get cash prizes, but still, this is such an awesome achievement. She is such a good and so very consistent puzzler! Absolutely amazing! 😍
The Shandling Shim: genius idea! 🤩
And speaking of which, there were so many great ideas happening around this event. Sounds like an absolute blast, and done with a lot of heart. ♥
❤❤
The Sarah Shuler outtakes were amazing! She's so fun! Please do this all the time!
I bet all the competitors are so grateful to have your videos as souvenirs. The live streams were great and I watched every second of them, but they’re not going to rewatch them in their entirety in twenty years’ time
one thing i love is the high fives after the teams finish! 😂 everyone does it differently and it’s always a little awkward
and sarah’s outtakes are golden 🤣
The 4-way high five is a classic move
Every time I see one of these competition videos, I just can't get over how overwhelmingly positive everyone in this community is. There is obvious competitiveness there, but everyone is so excited for how well everyone else is doing in addition to their own success, it's just heartwarming. That, and I canNOT with the idea to do a wedding guest list with puzzle pieces like how the raffle was done. What a cute idea and wonderful keepsake.
21:38 “ I think this puzzle should come with free therapy “ the realest thing anyone could say abt that puzzle 😂
Honestly that applies to most of the puzzles I solve on this channel 😂
@@KarenPuzzles 100%
Came to comment about the same thing lmaoo idk how they kept it together cause i would have snorted
Congratulations to everyone, particularly Alice, what a remarkable accomplishment! It has been great seeing the community flourish so quickly, and I'm sure that your videos have been a *major* contributor to that growth. Thanks Karen, the work you put in is evident and your videos are world-class. Here's to continued success in all your endeavors!
21:39 “I think this puzzle should come with free therapy” i’m cryingggg😭😭
I love how you’ve included the livestream commentary on your recap videos, they do such a great job, and Sarah’s outtakes made me laugh so hard. Great quality video Karen 😊
I rarely leave any comments under UA-cam video, but this time I had to! Karen, this video of competition coverage was worth the wait. Thank you for putting so much effort- the storyline, the narrative, funny sections, the appreciation for the winners- you add so much to the whole event. Your vision in the video is an event on its own the we as the viewers gathered to attend!! Thank you for the entertainment, Karen! You are doing a great job! I hope you know it ❤
The way you edit these videos is seriously impressive. I've never been more invested in any competition ever
It’s funny, but you are right. Makes me want to see speed puzzling in the Olympics. MUCH more exciting than the old tug-of-war events.
William winning the Disney puzzle, is some serious Disney magic
It’s crazy I never would’ve thought I’d enjoy puzzle content much less puzzle competition content, but Karen does such an amazing job narrating and compiling and it’s just so compelling. Got me to do a puzzle for the first time since I was a kid. ❤
Great recap!!! I remember being up in the Casual Room when puzzle 2 was revealed for the teams puzzle and everyone as a group said "ooooooh nooooo" So much fun watching this & I'm still so happy I finished 99th in the individuals!!
You still had an amazing time!
@@KarenPuzzles I'm happy with it, especially for my first competition!
Congrats Emilee!
Thankyou for showing all the background events! It's great to see the fun, community activities.
As soon as I saw Alice’s preliminary round on the live stream I didn’t want anyone else to win.
I don’t think she was really overwhelmed - just surprised and humble.
As someone who doesn't do puzzles and has basically zero interest in them, your videos caught me by surprise. I don't know if it's just how well made your videos are, or your engaging personality, or your puzzling skill, but I keep watching your videos and enjoying every second of it. Nice to hear you get a well-deserved shout out from the commentators for helping build the community. Great job, Karen!
So excited to watch this through with my daughter! We LOVE your videos.
You're first! 🥇
I've never had an interest in puzzling outside of your videos, Karen, but I absolutely love to see how much this community is driven by a sense of passion and community, how everyone wants to support each other and how open-minded everyone is. It warms my heart in a time where hatred between humans seems at an all time high. Thank you for that!
What a lovely community you are! As much, as I loved the competition part, the last part of all the fun you had, was just the best! Wonderful people you are!
Alice freaking Rowe!!! Wooow, just brilliant!
Playing with the giant puzzle at the end looked amazing! A cathartic end to the video as well as to the competition,. Who has ever filmed anything like that for puzzles? As you like to say, we are living in the golden age of jigsaw puzzles and that is an amazing thing to celebrate and enjoy and be grateful for as humans in community with each other.
Appreciation post for sarah, Almost feels like she's always finishing in second. This video had me rooting for her the whole time. Love from the UK Sarah!
❤️❤️❤️❤️
55:07 So sweet that they acknowledged just how much Karen has brought to the puzzling community. Even though I don't compete and never will, lol, I love watching the various competition videos she puts out. 💛
Karen, the time and energy you put into editing these is so worth it! You are an amazing story teller. I had tears in my eyes, I was nervous and joyful! What a beautiful video!
The editing on this video was phenomenal (as it is on every video) and was well worth the wait! I love how you don’t only focus on yourself but also on your fellow puzzlers! Alice was definitely unexpected but she rose to the top! Sarah’s commentary was GOLD, great addition! I love doing puzzles but I could never compete because I am a slow processer and it takes me forever to finish a 500 piece puzzle, doing it in under an hour is impressive! I love how everyone was cheering for the last person to finish, the community that has been created is so important! I’m looking forward to your next video! Nice work Karen! ❤️
That giant pick-up challenge in the end looked like the perfect celebration of puzzling and the puzzle community
Sarah is so fun to watch, I’m so excited for Worlds!
Thanks for all your work on this, Karen!
Thank you for the pain-
staking hours it took to
put this video together!
I thoroughly enjoy com-
pilation videos ☺️✌️💚
Dude I absolutely adore Alice Rowe. Here’s this unassuming, pint-sized kid nobody’s ever heard of, she just showed up to compete and maybe meet some of her heroes… turns out she’s this year’s fastest puzzler in the country. Who knew, right?
Thanks for another awesome video, Karen! I've been watching your videos for the last few years. I've enjoyed them all! And thanks for saying such nice things about my puzzle! It was nice to hang out with you at Nationals again!
It's nice to see competitors so lovely to each other
I'm a fan of Tammy's puzzle hat !
Congrats to everyone one who participated either as a contestant or as a volunteer
Congratulations to all of you, particularly Alice Rowe! The editing of coverage produced creates a very engaging video. Thanks to Ravensburger to sponsoring you so you are able to do this Karen. I am not a puzzler, other than 24 piece ones I do with my little grandson I have never done one :) I like to watch because it is a fun community and a very wholesome activity - who knew puzzling was a thing?? I may actually do a puzzle one day (I like the Jane Wooster Scott art so that may push me to do it!).
I knew I liked Sarah from the World's videos, but that outtake real was absolutely hilarious! I'm in love
This video was so worth the wait! Thank you Karen! The end of the video had me tearing up. You showing just how kind and welcoming the puzzle competition community is. So unbelievably sweet and it makes me so happy to see all of you enjoying a pretty niche hobby with each other! And huge congratulations to Alice! What a sweep! Absolutely astounding.
The whole video was great, good pacing and intriguing. But oh my gosh it really took off to a whole other level in the last third. I couldn't stop smiling. I've been watching your channel since YT recommended you to me about 1.5 years ago, being a Patreon for a few months. First being just relaxing videos to watch, you steadily increased my interest. Worlds 2023 and your coverage ignited my puzzle fever. Never having puzzled before (I do like building Legos, so a bit similar), I've been doing it since and am at about 16 finished 1000 piece ones. At the end of the video - about the community, the meetups, the 51000 piece one - I found a little bit of myself in all of you there. I've discovered a handful of colleagues and friends here in Germany, that are also puzzling, so I'm also not alone 🙂. So in all, a huge thank you. You've changed part of my life for the better. Those long videos of yours are worth your effort, and our time to watch 🥰.
That's so nice of you to say ❤️
Gosh I wish we had this level of competition in the UK, I’m so very envious of all your wonderful connections with fellow puzzle people! It’s just so beautiful. Love love love this! Xx
Such a great video covering such a great event!
The commentator at about 55 mins is totally right, you've brought so much awareness to speed puzzling (and just shamelessly loving puzzles in general) with your videos, and I'm so glad you did! So thank you!
Everyone here is so awesome
Good luck at Worlds!!
Congratulations Alice! What a debut.
And congratulations Karen for putting together such a masterful compilation. And I loved the ending.
Congratulations Ravensburger for making all those beautiful puzzles available.
I think the yellow post-it notes for pieces on the floor is a brilliant idea!
Congratulations to Alice, and everyone who was there!!! Those puzzles were hard! Great coverage of the competition ... thanks for competing and the condensed version of it all 😊
I just got through a stressful audition weekend, this is the perfect video to pop up to help me stay calm while I wait for callbacks! Thank you Karen!
Wonderful coverage of the Nationals, I felt like I was there. Looked like everyone had a great time, endless smiles and hugs for each competitor. Congratulations on your finishes. Loved all the puzzles this year, especially the Busy Birdies and the "largest puzzle pickup” 👍👍👍
The birds and the hot air balloons are definitely my two fave puzzles from these finals :D
That puzzle piece snow angel at the end was beautiful!! Such a fun way to end the competition!
Oh, I'm so happy to see the conclusion!!!! Going to kick back, relax, and savor this video!
My plans for tonight have been made. Watching a 90+ minute video about speed puzzle competition.
Congratulations, Alice! Job well done.
Many thanks to Karen and your team for bringing us along the journey. Keep shining bright.
Karen this vid was spectacular. The world needs a Cozy Sports Channel and I hope you lead the puzzle time block.
Love that end clip with the large puzzle. Just people living their best life. So much fun.
1:02:18 I didn’t know I was holding my breath until I let out the biggest breath once Alice finished.
Wow!
Thank you @KarenPuzzles , coming from some who has never watched puzzles on UA-cam and only have completed 5-10 puzzles myself. You have kept me and my wife completely enthralled with your puzzle competition videos! Congratulations to Alice and You!
After watching your videos for a while now, ive decided to enter into a local competition happening in my country in July. Didn’t know speed puzzling was a thing. I love puzzles but I’m not competitive with them I just like doing them for fun. ☺️
Thank you so much, Karen! I really appreciate all your hard work. What blows my mind is that you not only have your footage, you also go through the livestream and search for the right commentary. It's just crazy thinking about all the hours you put into it. It's trully worth it! It shows through the whole video. Thank you for that! Thanks for bringing such competition to a wider audience and to show how nice the community is, how fun the competitions seems and just to get to know more about puzzles and speed puzzeling in general.
I listened to all of the livestreams at 1.5x speed while puzzling so I could pull out any quotes I might want to use 😅
So exciting for a new, young puzzler to come in and win. And I just love how supportive everyone is of their fellow competitors. What a wholesome community.
Man, that end gave me happy tears! I live about an hour from Ravensburger here in Germany, so great to see these videos!
Karen, thank you so much for that amazing coverage! That was quite a lot! Congratulations on your success in the competition and your signing!
Alice... WOW!!! Congratulations to you! That was amazing to watch!
Alice brought her best when the pressure was highest. This is the defining characteristic of champions.
Love the image of Sarah doing puzzle angels!! Cathartic indeed.
The individuals made me teary. From you &. Your friends, alice rowe what a prodigy and the last 2 puzzlers! So happy for everyone!
Thanks for all your work putting this together. ❤ The joyful play at the end was wonderful.
BIG congratulations to Alice and all of the other competitors!! ✨🌺 That event looked so amazing and heartwarming, I wish I can take part in an event like that ever in the future
Congratulations, Alice! And all the other winners! You all are incredible and very inspiring. Thank you.
Thank you! Your time, energy, and talent are appreciated beyond words! You certainly have helped make this community bigger and more fun! 🎉🎉🎉
Congratulations Alice - and all the puzzlers. So much fun to watch.
Thank you for putting together these competition recap videos. The storytelling and scene setting are compelling, the camera work is beautiful and the editing is fantastic. Thank you for all your hard work.
What a fantastic video, Karen! Your commentary, analysis, editing, and extras make for a most enjoyable viewing experience. This community of people give off such a good vibe and these events are so uplifting. Thanks!
Alice! What a star. Can't wait to see how she does at worlds! Thanks for the great videos Karen. I can tell how much love you put into each one of these and your positivity absolutely comes through. I've been a lifelong puzzler, and you've made it 'cool' again - thank you!
Everyone was so fast! Thanks for your awesome coverage. I’d been avoiding watching the livestream since I knew you’d do an awesome job covering it. Congrats to Alice and all the other top puzzlers! You guys will give Alejandro a run for his money in September!
Congrats Alice! Karen, thank you for making another fun piece for us to live vicariously through you as we watch! I think it is a very special talent to be able to work in such close quarters with team mates piece-fully ;)
Great job Alice! You’ve got the speed and the positivity that makes @karenPuzzles so great to watch!
I really love how you edited in the live stream commentary, really makes it feel like a documentary
I watched live, so this video is going to be fabulous! Thank you for showing me puzzle competitions exist! 😂 the blue celestial puzzle was my favorite of the day.
Karen, I LOVE your videos. Your editing skills are off the chart! You're story telling through every scene. I can tell how well thought out your videos are.
This may be the most fun UA-cam video I have seen for a while!!!! Ahhh, thank you so much for all the production involved :) it’s such a nice community
I thought I had already seen these videos, but I forgot I had watched the livestreams😂🙈
Now you can relive it, only with music and dramatic zoom-ins 😂
And charts!!! I’ll be honest, I’ve stolen some of your lovely chart formats for my very corporate analytics job 😅🙋🏼♀️ thanks for the ideas and quality work!!!