After a long day’s work, William Shandling finds it very relaxing to return home and casually piece together a jigsaw puzzle. 

Like many others, his love of puzzling blossomed during the pandemic lockdown. 

“During COVID, my brother and I were able to spend lots of time at our parents’ house together on the weekends, and we quickly went through all the puzzles that we had at their home,” he said. 

So, through Facebook, he joined a local puzzle swap.

“We’d meet on peoples’ porches and exchange two or three puzzles at a time.”

That’s how he met Lisa Moskowitz. 

Shandling’s relationship with puzzling and the burgeoning Orange County puzzling scene has never been the same.

This weekend, Moskowitz and Shandling, co-presidents of the Orange County Speed Puzzlers, hosted a 24-hour puzzle ultramarathon in Fullerton.

From 1 p.m. on Saturday to 1 p.m. on Sunday in a ballroom of the DoubleTree by Hilton, 13 teams of eight attempted to complete as many jigsaw puzzles as possible. 

Team “Snacks Allowed” — E.B. Caron, Dan Caron, Sarah Schuler, Lisa Schuler, Cathy Roiter, Jeanne Roiter, Kelly Walter and Michaela Keener — took home first place after completing 20 puzzles with 23,265 pieces.

Team “Sleepless in Pieces” also completed 20 puzzles and, with a total of 22,878 pieces, came in second place. Team “No Sleep Til Breakfast” took third with 17 puzzles and 18,924 pieces.

The puzzlers took turns competing in groups of four, allowing half of each team to rest at any given time.

Team chemistry is important, and strategy is key, Shandling said.

For example, one team member might sort the edge pieces while another assembles them, and two more start piecing together patterns and images, he explained.

To test the puzzlers’ all-around skills, each jigsaw assembled was made by a different manufacturer. Some had ribbon-cut pieces and others had random cuts. Some puzzles depicted animals, others collages and still others “funky graphic art,” Shandling said.

Each team competed from the same set of puzzles, building them in the same order.

Contrary to his meditative, solitary evening puzzling sessions, this event was intense, social and competitive. 

“I fully support the benefits of mental health and relaxation when it comes to recreational puzzling,” Shandling said. “My pitch for speed puzzling is the exact opposite of that.”

“The pitch for speed puzzling is for those who are not necessarily athletic but, at the same time, tend to be very competitive,” he said. “For us, the social aspect of speed puzzling is super fun. You have a whole bunch of people who would never traditionally have made it to the Olympics, let’s say, in an organized sport, yet we’re still very competitive. We still have that drive.”

A jigsaw puzzle world championship takes place in Spain, Shandling said. And similar ultra-endurance puzzling events happen from time to time across Western Europe. 

But, the weekend event in Fullerton was the first of its kind in the U.S., Moskowitz and Shandling said. 

The OC Speed Puzzlers decided to host it because the USA Jigsaw Puzzle Association couldn’t afford to send teams to European competitions in back-to-back months. 

“It was truly like nothing I have ever experienced. You would never have known the puzzlers stayed up 24 hours,” said Moskowitz. “They still had som much energy and enthusiasm for puzzling up to the end.”

“It was such an an honor to be a part of history,” Moskowitz added.

Their event did more than convene the top jigsaw puzzlers in the country.

The speed puzzlers also raised money for City of Hope. They raised an additional $700 during the event for a total of $38,772 to date, said Moskowitz. 

“My parents both met at a City of Hope fundraiser,” Shandling said. “I’ve also, sadly, had several several family members pass away from cancer. Lisa and I both hold City of Hope in a special place in our hearts.”

That generous spirit, they explained, is the crux of the speed-puzzling community. 

“The difference between speed puzzling and any other sport is that you’re going to find the biggest, the strongest amount of heart at these competitions,” he said. “We’re competitive, but we root for everyone.”

“It’s such a wholesome community.” 

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