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Abbot Hall smelled of a heady mix of freshly opened puzzles and a wash of anxiety Saturday as competitors gathered for the Marblehead Festival of the Arts’ first-ever Speed Puzzle competition.
“This is my baby,” said Meghan Perlow, MFoA vice president and co-organizer of the event, with a wide smile. “I’ve always kind of loved puzzles and apparently I like to turn everything into a competition.”
Perlow, along with Joseph Tavano, also an MFoA vice president, spearheaded the event that brought together 40 puzzle lovers for the fundraiser and, by all accounts, a fun time.
“It’s an event straight out of Stars Hollow,” said spectator Grace Wolverton, referring to the idyllic small-town setting for the TV show “Gilmore Girls,” and she wasn’t wrong.
The premise was simple. Tables were stationed around Abbot Hall, each with a new, sealed, 500-piece puzzle just waiting to be solved. The first two-person team to complete their puzzle won.
And although the event was one of camaraderie and fun with that small-town glow, make no mistake, it was also a full-on competition. And what made it interesting is that no one quite knew what to expect, said Tavano.
“I’m just hugely competitive and I don’t like to lose,” said Margo Steiner, who brought her equally competitive friend Pat along as her partner. “Plus I believe in everything the (MFoA) does and I want to support them.”
Steiner joked that she fully intended to win but would take her lumps if she lost.
Spoiler alert — she lost.
The top finishers and prize winners were the Puzzle Pals, Brittany Uminski and Masha Stine, who finished the Ravensburger puzzle in 53 minutes and 40 seconds and had their own cheering section above them in the balcony. Mud Puddle Toys provided the grand prize, which consisted of another puzzle, puzzle plate and stuffed teddy bear. Contestants also got to take the competition puzzle home with them.
“I was floored by the puzzle,” Uminski admitted. “It’s a really hard puzzle.”
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Perlow said the puzzle she chose was in fact the one used in the 2025 national competition. Yes, there are national speed puzzle competitions. Perlow said this year’s USA Jigsaw Puzzle Association event will be in Atlanta, and she confessed that she’d like to actually compete one day.
While puzzlers stayed focused down below, spectators were asked to sit in the balcony, which is where Will Equitz kept a keen eye on the competition with his binoculars. Equitz said he didn’t have any skin in the game but had seen an ad for the event and thought it would be fun to watch. And it was, he said.
Each pair of competitors shared a table with another pair. In Uminski and Stine’s case, their table mates were their friends Jasper Lior and Evan Kravette, who would finish fourth in the competition. They were one of a handful of experienced puzzle competitors, having competed in other North Shore events.
Both Stine and Uminski said they grew up doing puzzles, but Uminski said she was more of a casual puzzler until she met Stine. They also do trivia nights and escape rooms together.
“It’s an honor to be the inaugural winners,” Uminski said.
Suzie Keenholtz and Sarah Hartline of team “Piece Out” came in second with a time of 1 hour, 3 minutes.
Hartline said she received a text from Keenholtz one afternoon regarding the competition.
“I thought it was a joke,” she said. “We decided to go for it and it was fun.”
Hartline said the MFoA event was actually their second competition.
“We did one in Beverly where we also got second place,” she said.
“Beverly’s puzzle was a lot easier,” Keenholtz said with a laugh. “This one was tough.”
After the first two teams finished, Xhazzie Kindle said the goal posts had shifted and she was hoping they would simply finish their puzzle.
Gerry London was skeptical that would happen for him and his partner, Rosanne Steinig.
“I came in here with a full head of hair,” he said, indicating his decidedly not-full head of hair.
Steinig said they decided to give it a try because they do puzzles all the time and thought it would be fun. Low lighting and small pieces made it a little frustrating, and Steinig pointed out that London was also colorblind, ironic since the theme of the puzzle was art with colorful pots of paint, brushes and pencils.
Considering Saturday was what Portia Brown called her first encounter with speed puzzling, she and her partner Meghan Amato did all right, finishing in 1 hour, 17 minutes, which was good enough for third.
“I think that’s respectable,” Brown said.
Amato said they took part in a puzzle night in Swampscott before the holidays, but it was much more low-key.
“This was more competitive,” she said.
But it was also, according to Liz Whytock, “just good, clean fun.”
Whytock and her partner Joann Sorg came in fifth just behind Kravette and Lior.
Since they had a waiting list for this event, Tavano said they hope to have a second event sooner rather than later, but there is no date yet. However, Couch Dog Brewing Co. in Salem will be holding a competition March 1 at 4 p.m.
If you want to get in training for the next event, here are some tips gleaned from Saturday’s experienced competitors:
— Flip over all the pieces as fast as you can; Perlow said she can do it in three minutes and the majority of Saturday’s competitors were able to do it in under four.
— Sort pieces not only by color but also by size; Jasper Lior said when the team of four compete together they each have a role. She sorts by size.
— Look at the big picture; going for the edge pieces might not be the best bet. Perlow said often it helps to start with a central image or color.
— Start at the top; Perlow said many successful competitors also seem to start at the top of the puzzle and work their way down.
— Don’t spend more than 10 seconds on any one piece; Meaghan Amato said if you can’t make it fit — move on.
— And if you think you might like to try competitive puzzling, more than one competitor said, “Just do it … it’s fun.”
