The Expression of a Win: Emma W. Shocked Herself by Winning Her Semifinal at the 2025 World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship

Emma (she/her) lives in Massachusetts, where she works in political advertising. She is a lifelong puzzler and shares the hobby with her grandmother. After an Instagram reel from Orange County Speed Puzzlers sparked her interest in picking up the pace of her puzzling in December 2023, Emma began a daily practice of completing 1,000-piece puzzles. She participated in her first competition just eight months later.

The swift journey from beginner to contender led Emma to the 2025 World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship. With an astonishing time of 34:05, she won an individual semifinal round, becoming the first US competitor to do so in the competition’s history!

Since Worlds, Emma has enjoyed connecting with members of the global puzzling community. She’s always looking for ways to get more involved and help others do the same by bringing friends and family to puzzling competitions in her area. Alongside Emma P., Emily C., and Min D., Emma will compete at the 2026 USA Jigsaw Nationals on Team Em&Em&Em&M.

Q&A Time:

What do you enjoy most about puzzling?

“Puzzling is really therapeutic for me! It's at least 40 minutes of time where I cannot focus on anything else or let the stress of the day get to me. It's always been such a comfort to me in difficult times to be able to puzzle and let the world fall away. I have really bad anxiety, and pulling out a puzzle has been a great way for me to pivot and feel comfortable when I'm panicking.”

Do you have a favorite brand, type, style, or subject of puzzle?

“I love flat colors and gradients! I also like when puzzles feature characters that I know and love. I have many Marvel superhero puzzles!”

What is your best advice for someone who wants to improve their speed puzzling abilities?

“Find other people to puzzle with. I think you learn so much more about your strengths and weaknesses when you are puzzling with other people who challenge you and ask you questions. At 2025 Worlds, the national associations’ contest with the 10-person team was super helpful for getting me to think about strategy and the way in which I puzzle.”

What do you enjoy most about the puzzle community?

“Everyone is so supportive and welcoming, and the puzzling community is amazing in New England. We always support each other when someone is looking for a team. It's great to have so many really strong speed puzzlers nearby because I know even if I'm going to a small local competition, it will be a competitive race!

For my second-ever competition, I took a bus to Hartford by myself for the 2024 New England Regionals. I was so shocked that puzzlers recognized me from the Massachusetts State Championship and even more shocked when they instantly invited me to join them for lunch and tried to find me a partner for the pairs competition. Everyone is always so excited for speed puzzling to grow!”

Tell us a bit about your puzzling teammates.

“I have been blessed with some truly amazing teammates! Last year at Nationals, I teamed up with Owen W., Jennifer L., and Annabelle P. (I also paired with Annabelle.) Because we were all in the Boston area, we got to meet up every week for practice. We were such a fun team, and I'm excited to pair with Annabelle again this year!

At Worlds, my team was ‘Dome Sweet Dome’ with Hannah D., Kyle K., and Jasmine L. Because we all live in different parts of the country, we didn't get to practice as a team before meeting in Spain, which was a big adjustment for me after practicing with my Nationals team every week. Jasmine and I met up for pairs practice during a puzzling weekend in Washington, D.C., but I had never met Kyle and Hannah before. Luckily, we all clicked really well and placed ninth at Worlds! We all have different puzzling strengths, and it was so fun watching us gel together in such a short time.”

Do you have a cherished or unforgettable puzzle-related memory?

“I think no one will be shocked when I say winning my semifinal at Worlds last year! There are honestly no words to describe how amazing it felt. The part that I think back on the most that makes my heart happy is hearing other people's reactions to that moment. My whole family—and my mom’s entire third grade class—was watching back in Massachusetts, and being able to feel their support was incredible.

The support from the other competitors was amazing as well! It felt like even though it was an individual competition, we were all in it together. Over the next few days, so many people I didn't know came up to me and congratulated me at Worlds or on Instagram, and I could just feel the support of the community every single second.”

Tell us more about your Worlds semifinal experience.

“When I opened the puzzle for the semifinal, I think I audibly said, ‘Oh I like this,’ because I knew that the puzzle played to my strengths. My puzzling style is quite chaotic. I am almost never consciously thinking about strategy; I just go with my gut. This can oftentimes be my downfall, and I've actually tried to work on being less chaotic and more strategic with how I puzzle. But with such a busy puzzle, chaos was necessary.

I remember noticing the cameras on me earlier in the puzzle. At Worlds, the cameras usually focused solely on the top puzzlers right up until the finish. The camera added a bit of pressure but also made me realize I was doing MUCH better than expected. At around 20 minutes into the puzzle, the camera came back on me, and I noticed that it never left. When I was coming to the end of the puzzle, I started to think, ‘Maybe I could finish really well or even win this,’ because I hadn't heard any cheers yet.

I knew logically that I must've won, but I did not believe it because I knew who I was up against! There were so many amazing puzzlers in that heat, and I had never won a big competition like that in anything, let alone puzzling. I'm generally a very expressive person, and my face definitely showed that in the moment. I don't think I fully processed it until I left the dome and was able to get out of the heat and jump up and down and hug everyone. To be honest, I still don't think I've fully processed it!”

Connect:

You can find Emma on Instagram @emmaswilliamson.