YearPrew 2025

Puzzle Talk Wrapped & personal highlights

Puzzle Talk is now on a holiday break. You’ll receive the next newsletter on Thursday, January 15. I’m using the break to make the newsletter better for you: developing the newsletter based on your feedback (huge thanks to everyone who answered my reader survey), sketching out content ideas, doing research, and lining up practical things like guest writers and interviews.

I’m hoping you’ll have relaxing holidays and wishing you the best New Year, may it be full of puzzling!

Thanks so much for reading Puzzle Talk! <3

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YearPrew 2025

Personal highlights & Puzzle Talk Wrapped

Let’s list a few things to wrap up 2025! I’ll share some statistics, walk through the hot topics in puzzle culture, reflect my personal puzzling journey and reveal my favorite brands and the puzzle I loved to most this year.

My puzzling year in numbers

Let’s begin with this one, because who doesn’t love a bit of statistics! I haven’t tracked how many puzzles I’ve done or bought this year (both too many), but I was able to extract some data to share.

Here’s my 2025 in numbers:

• My fastest time on 500-pieces (first attempt): 33:50min (Ravensburger: Puzzling emotions)

• My fastest time on 500-pieces (repeats): 21:27min (Ravensburger: Puzzling emotions)

• My slowest time on 500-pieces (first attempt): 1:41:27 (Ravensburger: Peacock)

• Puzzle events attended: 29 (23 competitions, 6 other puzzle-related events)

• Podium placements: 10 (4 solo, 3 pairs, 3 teams)

• Puzzle competitions organized: 22 (17 individual, 4 pairs, 1 teams)

• Other puzzle events organized: 8

• Instagram posts: 56

• Collaborations with brands: 4

• The newsletters I wrote (including this one): 54

The ones you loved the most

The newsletters that stood out for you this year, according to the data (in chronological order):

1. How tariffs are shaping the jigsaw puzzle industry

2. Where every piece belongs

3. Goodbyes to beige chic

4. How to take your speed puzzling to next level?

5. The ethics of puzzle art

What we talked about this year

The hot topics of 2025, what was trending in puzzle culture this year?

1. The rise of AI: this has been the hot topic and divided puzzlers the most.

2. Puzzle marathons: all of the sudden puzzle marathons started to pop up everywhere. Local, international, online, in-person; for individuals, pairs and teams; small, big, established ones, newbies… You name it.

3. Digital communities: Facebook groups keep on growing, new Discord channels are set up, more and more Twitch streamers appear, and Puzzlegram is doing better than ever. Whatever your niche interest is within this niche hobby, you’ll find a group to join to.

4. Speed puzzling technology: MySpeedPuzzling is definitely trending and so are puzzle timing apps.

My personal puzzling year

At the beginning of this year, I didn’t know this would be the year that tested my love for puzzling.