How long do jigsaw puzzles take?
Allow roughly 2–8 hours for 500 pieces or 5–15 hours for 1,000. Some puzzles will take much longer! That's time spent puzzling, with tea breaks extra.
I personally think they take too long! That's probably why I spent over 20 years at Gibsons in jigsaw product development, asking artists to avoid painting too much sky!
| Pieces | Time to allow |
|---|---|
| 300 | About 1–2 hours |
| 500 | About 2–8 hours |
| 1,000 | About 5–15 hours |
| 2,000 | A project for several sessions; the picture makes a big difference. |
| 5,000 | A longer project to spread over many sessions. |
These are rough guides, not a deadline. The picture, the cut and your experience can make a big difference.
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What does “average” mean?
… but who is Mr or Ms Average? Who doesn't stop puzzling to make a cup of tea or reply to a phone message?
Different puzzles completed by the same person have hugely varying times. A familiar picture might come together quite quickly; a large patch of sky can keep you busy for ages.
What makes a puzzle take longer?
Photo: Jared Tarbell, CC BY 2.0. Resized.
- Number of pieces - does a 1000 piece jigsaw actually take twice as long as a 500 piece puzzle?
- Puzzle piece shape - do they all look the same and can be easily misplaced?
- Puzzle cut - are pieces cut randomly, in a grid, or even have no edge pieces at all!
- Colour variation - is half the puzzle made of blue sky with no clouds?
- Style & detail - painted or photographic? Broad repeating brush strokes or identifiable, sharp, unique detail?
- Jigsaw puzzle accessories - do you have a board and sorting trays to help?
- Are you using the picture? Some companies supply a separate picture; others have it on the box. Some puzzlers don't even use the picture!
- Technique - do you sort out the jigsaw into separate areas first?
- The Jigsaw Puzzler - what levels of skill & experience do you have?
Does twice as many pieces mean twice as long?
A 1,000-piece puzzle has twice as many pieces as a 500-piece puzzle, but it doesn't follow that it will take exactly twice as long.
If you searched through every remaining piece to find the 11th one, you would have 490 to look through in a 500-piece puzzle, compared with 990 in a 1,000-piece puzzle. But colour and visual recognition help you divide a larger puzzle into smaller sections.
Grouping the blue pieces of a sky could make that section a separate (although tough!) 300-piece puzzle within a 1,000-piece puzzle.
How long does an all-white puzzle take?
With no picture to help, the shape of the pieces matters much more. There isn't a reliable average to give here.
Daron's calculation on Mathematics Stack Exchange came to about 695 hours by imagining someone trying pieces methodically from one corner. That wasn't a timed attempt! It is a calculation, not a prediction of how long your puzzle will take.
695 hours???
How fast are championship puzzlers?
The competition times below show what trained speed puzzlers can do. They aren't a target for a relaxed afternoon!
For more events and results, see my Jigsaw Championships article.
| Event | Winner and time |
|---|---|
| Individuals, 500 pieces | Maartje van der Meer — 27 minutes 57 seconds. Official individual results. |
| Pairs, 1,000 pieces | Maja Von Borstel and Franziska Treber — 43 minutes 40 seconds. Official pairs results. |
| Teams, two 1,000-piece puzzles | Czech Puzzlequeens & Martin — 1 hour 7 minutes 11 seconds. Official team results. |
The 1,000-piece result is for a pair working together. The team completed two 1,000-piece puzzles.
Take your time and enjoy it
How long does a jigsaw puzzle take for the average person with an average puzzle?
(and who drinks the average number of cups of tea or coffee!)
The real answer – it should take you as long as you want it to.
Enjoy the journey as well as the destination!
If you fancy another 1,000-piece challenge, here is Gibsons' Puzzle Festival.
Have you ever done a wooden jigsaw puzzle? They are a completely new experience with their fantastic intricate shapes and 'whimsies'.
