WengsWorld - Selection of Competition Puzzle

WengsWorld - Selection of Competition Puzzle


How does one organise a jigsaw puzzle competition where the puzzle is not too simple and is sufficiently challenging to participants, and yet not so difficult that many participants are discouraged? Select the correct competition puzzle of course! Easier said than done though, as competition puzzle selection is more an art than science.

In all of my competitions, I targeted that at least some of the participating teams of 2 persons would be able to complete the puzzle between two and two and a half hours. I thought that this would provide the needed balance between making it too easy and making it too difficult, between having the event end too quickly and the event not ending at all. :)

To achieve this, I mostly selected puzzles of 500-550 pieces, sometimes 300 pieces. In addition, I also tried to select puzzles which had many colours, so that participants could use the colour differences to complete the puzzle easier.

Until the recent competition on 30 Mar 2013, I managed to get the selection correct. In each of those other competitions, at least 1 or 2 of the participating teams was able to complete the puzzle within two and two and a half hours.

The streak ended on 30 Mar 2013 however. Mid way through the competition, it was apparent that the teams were behind the pace set by teams at the same stage in previous competitions. At the end of the stipulated time-limit of 2hrs and 15mins, none of the teams were able to complete the puzzle. In fact, the leading team was quite far away from doing so.

This is what the leading team was able to piece together after 2hrs and 15mins:

 

So what happened?

Well, it was because I wanted to create that complete experience for the participants, the one I blogged about previously:

http://wengsworldjigsawpuzzles.blogspot.sg/2013/04/wengsworld-union-of-sight-and-taste.html

that I needed to choose a puzzle which had chocolate pictures. And the one I chose happened to have a lot of the same colour, with very little shade and other colour cues. 

Although it was obvious that nobody was going to complete the puzzle at the competition itself, the teams were very nice about it and took it in their stride. After the competition, some of the participants went back and completed (with some effort) the puzzle at home.

Let's hope I get the selection correct the next time!  :)