On May the 4th, Star Wars is the theme of the first ever Wilkinson Public Library puzzle competition in Telluride, Colorado.
“Without further ado, I think you guys are here to puzzle. Does anyone have an idea what the puzzle is going to be?” asked Jill Wilson, Public Services Manager at the library.
The crowd responds “Star Wars.”
It’s National Star Wars Day.
“May the 4th be with you,” said Wilson.
“Alright you guys ready to puzzle? On your mark, get set, May the 4th be with you.”
The program room of the library erupts into a flurry of activity.
Teams featuring puzzlers aged 7 to 70 jump into action, flipping over pieces, sorting by color, searching for edges.
“It’s teams of two, ten teams of two. They all have the exact same puzzle. We tried to pick a puzzle people could complete within two hours, so I chose 300 pieces because I think that’s doable. The team who finishes the puzzle quickest gets a gift card to Kazahana, and all the glory,” said Wilson.
Kaylie and Lilly Reed, a mother daughter duo, are working from the outside in.
“Well we’re basically doing the outside first, and then we’re going to do the inside.”
Lizzy Edwards and Annie Foxen are leaning into the competition.
“We’re feeling really competitive. I feel like we’re going a good job of separating the edge pieces and turning all pieces over simultaneously. That is our strategy at the moment,” said Edwards.
“We’re also running buddies so we’ve also practiced being in competitive situations together, of a different variety, but I think the athletic translates to intellectually.”
Slowly, and for some, not so slowly, a picture emerges.
Luke Skywalker stands in the middle of the picture shooting a blaster, flanked by Han Solo, Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Chewbacca, R2-D2, and C-3PO stand in the corner.
Darth Vader menaces in the background with his red light saber.
As the clock hits 50 minutes, almost exactly to the second, Wilson exclaimed there was a winner to cheers and groans.
Abby Conroy and Damon Nilsson are the winning team.
“Honestly I’m shaking. Damon is shaking. Damon honestly did 90% of the puzzle, I’m not going to lie,” said Conroy.
“I’m just glad everyone had fun, honestly.”
The puzzle may be from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but the fun of the puzzle competition is very much here and now.
This story was shared with Aspen Public Radio via Rocky Mountain Community Radio, a network of public media stations in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico including Aspen Public Radio.
