Iryna’s Puzzle Story: 

Iryna (she/her) is a Software Engineer who was born in Ukraine, grew up in Canada, and now lives in California! Although puzzling wasn’t a prevalent part of her childhood, she has been casually puzzling for as long as she can remember. In those earlier years, it took quite some time for her to finish a puzzle and she would commonly try to convince family or friends to join her.

In 2020, Iryna and her friend Rachael started doing puzzles while watching reality TV and drinking wine. They realized that it was only taking a single sitting to complete a 1000-piece puzzle, and joked that they should somehow “compete.” They expected a Google search with no results, but you can imagine how surprised they were to not only find speed puzzling events, but even local competitions! They entered their first competition in November 2023, and have been competing ever since. 

Iryna shares that speed puzzling provides her an outlet for her competitive spirit. She has always felt super competitive, but didn’t participate in traditional sports while growing up as she was drawn more to creative endeavors. She has enjoyed the speed puzzling realm where she can push herself through training and see measurable improvement in her times and rankings. Iryna says there is something so satisfying about seeing that kind of progress, especially when it’s something she genuinely enjoys.

Within the USAJPA, Iryna is known for her speed run skills. She was the fastest in Individuals for the 2nd USAJPA Speed Run Puzzle Competition, assembling “Rainbow Cats” by herself in 17:44! You can watch that record speed run here: shorturl.at/SFTqh. Additionally, she won the Virtual Speed Puzzle challenge at the 2024 USA Jigsaw Nationals, through the Quest VR Game called Puzzling Places.

Watch Iryna at the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship in Spain later this year!

Q&A Time:

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

“I’m not sure I have one specific piece of advice, but a few things I’ve been doing lately have definitely helped me improve.

One is trying out different strategies, either on the same puzzle or across different ones, to see what actually works best for you.

Something else that’s helped is practicing with my non-dominant hand. I did a few sessions where I literally sat on my right hand and solved using only my left. It was harder than I expected (especially rotating pieces), but it really improved my coordination.

And of course, doing the “Rainbow Cats” speed run helped too. Even though repeating the same puzzle over and over doesn’t do much for general strategy, it really showed me what “fast” feels like and gave me confidence that I can go faster.”

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

“I actually find this question really hard to answer since I’m still figuring out what I like and what I’m good at. It honestly changes based on my mood. In general, I tend to lean toward colorful, slightly chaotic puzzles. I rarely sort, so I usually end up jumping between a bunch of sections at once—and that style just fits the way I solve.

Apparently, I’m not the best judge of puzzle difficulty though. Recently, my team and I had time to squeeze in one more practice puzzle, and I chose a scenic seaside puzzle with flowers along the bottom, which seemed easy enough. It wasn’t. It ended up being one of the hardest puzzles we’ve done. Let’s just say I lost my puzzle-picking privileges after that!”

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

“One of my most recent cherished puzzle memories came from the “Rainbow Cats” speed run earlier this year. It was such a fun experience, mostly because I was competing alongside Diana J. and Nicole P. We were all improving so much, sharing tips, and pushing each other the whole time. I ended up doing that puzzle over 200 times - which sounds ridiculous, but it was genuinely so fun to keep chasing better times.

We all finished in the top three, within 40 seconds of each other. Diana and I are both in the Bay Area and had done the puzzle together before, but we’d never actually met Nicole in person, even though it felt like we knew her by then. We kept saying that one day the three of us had to do “Rainbow Cats” together.

A few months later, that actually happened at the Portland Jigsaw Masters. We finally got to meet Nicole, and of course ended up running “Rainbow Cats” multiple times over the weekend. It was such a cool full-circle moment, and definitely one of my favorite recent puzzling memories.”

What is the puzzle community like in your area?

“I feel so lucky to live in the Bay Area because the puzzling community here is amazing. There are so many talented puzzlers around, including legends like Becca T. and Andrea P It’s such a great environment to learn, compete, and connect. There are frequent puzzle swaps, events, and casual meetups, which makes it easy to stay involved.

Even though I still feel relatively new to the scene, everyone has been incredibly welcoming. It’s such a fun and friendly group - people are easy to hang out with (and, more importantly, to puzzle with). I’m genuinely so grateful to be part of this community.”

What do you enjoy most about the puzzle community?

“I think my favorite part of the puzzle community is the friendships I’m building - not just locally, but across the country and even around the world. I really feel like I’m making some lifelong friends, which is something I didn’t expect when I first got into speed puzzling.

I also love how supportive and encouraging everyone is. Even though we’re technically competing against each other, people are always cheering each other on, sharing tips, and celebrating wins together. It’s such a positive and uplifting group to be part of, and that energy is a big part of what keeps me coming back.”

Tell us a bit about your puzzling teammates.

“My ride-or-die teammate is Rachael S.! We got into speed puzzling together and some of my favorite memories are from those early days - daily practicing, watching our pairs style evolve, and having so much fun along the way. It’s been such a joy puzzling with her and making those memories together.

Rachael and I ended up pairing up with Diana and Anne Marie after connecting on Facebook and going on what honestly felt like the funniest blind date ever to see if we’d mesh well. I’m so glad we did, since we had a blast competing together at the USA Jigsaw Nationals in both 2024 and 2025!

For Worlds, I’m partnering with Diana, and we’re teaming up with Jessica S. and Rebecca S., thanks to the amazing matchmaking from Andrea P. We got the chance to practice together before and during Portland Jigsaw Masters (shoutout to Jessica for making the trip to the Bay Area early so we could get in some extra practice), and now I’m even more excited for Worlds!”

Connect:

Iryna can be found on Instagram: @iryna.puzzles