IF YOU ARE A JIGSAW puzzle enthusiast, then you are a “dissectologist.” Who knew a name existed for those who love sorting and assembling jigsaw puzzle pieces into completed puzzles? Not me. While I appreciate learning a new word, I don’t engage in this primarily winter pastime. But many Minnesotans do.
Speed puzzling competitions have exploded in popularity, including right here in the southern part of our state. From libraries to breweries to community events and beyond, jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts gather and compete to finish their puzzles first. This week the Elysian Public Library hosted a Jigsaw Puzzle Derby. The Owatonna library held a competition in January. The St. Paul Winter Carnival did likewise.
More competitions are planned throughout our region, because, well, we still have plenty of winter remaining. On February 10, Creekside Community Center in Bloomington is holding a Family Jigsaw Puzzle Competition. Angry Inch Brewing in Lakeville hosts a Jigsaw Puzzle Contest on March 6, Mankato Brewery on March 17 and Surly Brewing in Minneapolis on March 27. And at the Historic Chateau Theatre in Rochester, the venue hosts a Downtown Puzzle Contest on March 9. And well to the north, the St. Louis County Depot is the site of the Duluth Jigsaw Puzzle Contest April 19-20. I expect many other places in Minnesota hold jigsaw puzzle contests. One need only search for those events online.
A Facebook group, Minnesota Jigsaw Puzzle Association Puzzling Group, even exists for Minnesotans who are die-hard jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts. I have more than a few in-laws on my husband’s side who love putting puzzles together so much so that last summer a puzzle exchange was part of the annual Helbling family reunion. Bring a puzzle or three and take home a puzzle or three. It was an idea enthusiastically embraced.
Right now, two card tables sit in our living room where Randy is assembling a “Minnesota Spirit” jigsaw puzzle designed by Minneapolis artist Nancy Patrick Carney. The 1,000-piece puzzle features all things Minnesotan—from University of Minnesota mascot Goldy Gopher to the Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth to Red Wing boots, the Mayo Clinic, Jeffers petroglyphs, SPAM luncheon meat, Laura Ingalls Wilder, birthplace of the Mississippi River, Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, and so much more. Each area of our state is well-represented in puzzle art.
But “Minnesota Spirit,” along with other puzzles created by Maynard’s LLC in Minneapolis, is not your ordinary jigsaw puzzles. Many are Something’s Amiss!® PuzzleTwist® puzzles, meaning the completed puzzle will not look the same as the puzzle featured on the box cover. In “Minnesota Spirit,” there are 56 differences ranging from colors to locations within the puzzle to added art. These twists take jigsaw puzzles to the next level for those who really want to be challenged.
The list of Minnesota (and other) jigsaw puzzles by Maynard’s is lengthy, covering topics like Minnesota state parks, landmarks and much more. There’s “MinneSNOWta” and “You Betcha!” and “Minnesota State Fair,” for example.
Now, what makes someone love assembling jigsaw puzzles (like Randy, our eldest daughter, many of my in-laws and my grandkids)? What makes folks compete in speed puzzling? The challenge? The sense of accomplishment? Entertainment? Perhaps in the depths of winter, it’s simply a way to pass the time indoors. Only a true “dissectologist” can answer those questions. And I am not one. I am only a puzzler of words.
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TELL ME: Are you a dissectologist? If you like putting puzzles together, why do you enjoy this pastime? Have you competed in speed puzzling?
© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
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