Piece-off #15-Speed Puzzling with Playful Pursuits

Welcome to Piece-off #15! Come solo, bring a partner or join a team and try your hand at speed puzzling - the top performers in each category go home with a prize!

🧩 CATEGORIES AND FORMAT:

- Individuals (solo): Puzzle Chess (3-4 rounds, 1-v-1, top 3 ranks win prizes)

- Pairs (group of 2): Speed Puzzling (500 pieces, 90 minutes, top 3 Pairs win prizes)

- Teams (group of 4): Speed Puzzling (500 pieces, 90 minutes, top Team wins prizes)

You can register under multiple categories as they will take place at different times. Pairs tickets are per Pair; Teams tickets are to be bought per-person. The Pairs and Teams tickets include the cost of registration and the competition puzzle to take home.

🧩 TIME AND SCHEDULE:

11 AM: Teams check-in and briefing.

11.15 AM - 12.45 PM: Teams round.

12.45 PM: Pairs check-in and briefing.

1.00 - 2.30 PM: Pairs round.

2.30 PM: Teams and Pairs prizes

3.15 PM: Individuals Check in and briefing.

3.30- 6 PM: Individuals rounds.

6 PM: Individuals Prizes

🧩 RULES:

PAIRS AND TEAMS (Speed Puzzling):

- Pairs and Teams will each have 90 minutes (1.5 hours) to complete a 500 piece puzzle. The top 3 Pairs and the top Team win prizes from Frank.

- Puzzles will come boxed, with the pieces in sealed bags. The box also contains a reference image.

- Only letter openers, keys or other non-sharp objects may be used to open the plastic that covers the puzzle; sharp objects like scissors or box cutters are not permitted.

- If, once the time has run out, competitors have not finished the puzzle, we will count the number of placed pieces, adding only groups of 3 or more pieces correctly joined together. Competitors will be ranked by the number of pieces they have placed.

- If pieces are missing/misplaced at the end of the puzzle, 5 seconds for each such piece will be added to the final time. If there are 2 or more adjacent missing pieces, no penalty will be applied as it is considered a manufacturing error.

- Tickets include registration and the cost of the competition puzzle - competitors take their puzzle home!

INDIVIDUALS (Puzzle Chess):

- There will be 3-4 rounds of 1-v-1 matches (depending on the number of players). There will be a gameplay demo before rounds start.

- Matches will be played in the “Puzzle Chess” format: Players will take turns to place one piece at a time in the puzzle, using a chess clock to track the time taken to do so. The player with the most time remaining on the clock at the end of the match wins.

- Puzzles will range from 70-200 pieces. Borders will be constructed off the clock before the match begins.

- Top 3 players win prizes from our sponsor, Frank!

- The ticket covers the registration fee.

About Playful Pursuits:

Asma a.k.a. Playful Pursuits runs Bangalore’s jigsaw puzzle community, providing a space for puzzle enthusiasts to come together to solve jigsaws, swap and sell their puzzles, and compete in speed puzzling! We meet in-person every Monday and on some weekends.