Speed Puzzlers Champion Oasis’ Mission
An Intro to Speed Puzzling
Speed Puzzling is defined as a sport, where the goal is to assemble standard jigsaw puzzles as quickly as possible. In speed puzzling, every piece counts, and every second matters. Involving less physical exertion, speed puzzling typically happens over a table and requires mental stamina. But like other physical sports, speed puzzling is a competitive, adrenaline-fueled activity that has become a vibrant and growing community. This was particularly true during the onset of COVID-19 in 2020 where many people found themselves picking up a puzzle for the first time.
Oasis’ Puzzle Palooza
Speed puzzling first came to our attention in 2024 when team members picked up on this growing sensation and thought it would be a great vehicle to drive donor engagement in our community. We even coined a playful name for our puzzle fundraisers: “Puzzle Palooza.” Our debut event attracted puzzlers from near and far, with a total of 15 teams (60 competitors) partaking in what has been dubbed one of the “fiercest races in these modern times” by an Oasis insider. The first competition helped us raise over $10,000 for LGBTQ+ immigrants, and we’re ecstatic at how quickly Oasis’ Puzzle Palooza has grown in just two years!
In 2025, our team met Andrea Peng, Caroline Orsi, and Hannah Doyle. If their names sound familiar, it’s because they are all heavily connected to the speed puzzling world, with all of them competing both nationally and internationally.
Hannah is originally from the Bay Area, where she now resides and is pursuing a PhD in electrical engineering from UC Berkeley. Puzzling is a recent hobby for Hannah: she was alone on New Year’s Eve of 2023, looking for something to do, and had one puzzle at home so thought she’d give it a try. From there, her passion grew, finding online puzzle-swap communities and growing her collection from one to now 100-plus puzzles. In the last few years, she has spent most of her time either in a lab or puzzling.
Caroline is a software engineer in San Francisco, where she has lived for the past 20 years. Although she doesn’t quite remember exactly how she first got into puzzling as a teenager, she has always returned to the activity throughout her life because it gives her time to daydream and reflect. Even when she stopped doing them for a while as an adult, she finds herself going back to puzzling as a therapeutic activity, especially during hard times.
Andrea has resided in San Francisco for three years following a move from Seattle. Andrea has done jigsaw puzzles since she can remember, which is well over 50 years. Puzzling was something she enjoyed her entire life–first, as a child and a teenager, then with her own children when they were young, and now socially with her puzzle friends (two of whom are Hannah and Caroline)!
While speed puzzling may not be a traditional physical sport, it is no less valid. As a queer organization, many on our team know all too well the significant amount of harassment and discrimination that can exist in some sports’ cultures, leading many in our communities to avoid participation due to lingering trauma and fear of future harassment. When you factor in vulnerable spaces like locker rooms, transgender and gender non-conforming people face additional barriers from biased policies and social stigma. And it is sadly one of the reasons that many queer people avoid sports altogether, and pursue solitary activities instead.
Hannah reflected, “I think we are aligned in that sense. People who are attracted to puzzles tend to be introverted. Speed puzzling provides an opportunity for social interaction during an activity that is traditionally solitary. It is a really good way for people who have different social capacities or social anxieties to relate to others.”
We created Puzzle Palooza as a means of increasing awareness of our mission—supporting LGBTQ+ asylum seekers.
“A big part of the culture of the puzzling community is welcoming new people and being supportive. Even in bigger competitions, which can become very tense, at the end of the day, everyone is happy to be there and rooting for everyone else,” said Hannah.
Caroline echoed this sentiment. “The puzzling community has been welcoming to me everywhere I go, even when I travel for competitions to other parts of the country and around the world. I don’t know what it is about puzzling that makes it such a warm place. Even though it’s a competitive event, people cheer on each other. Because everyone is there to engage in the same activity, you know that you already have something in common with people around you.”
As to whether Hannah, Caroline, and Andrea plan to stay in touch with Oasis, the answer is a resounding, “YES!!!” As a matter of fact, Andrea filled out a volunteer form the night after the competition and is now volunteering weekly with Oasis. ☺️
You can see from the diverse backgrounds of all the puzzle champions that there is no one specific path to get involved in speed puzzling, other than to have a desire to connect with same-minded people in a warm and welcoming environment.
If you love puzzles or feel passionately about supporting LGBTQ+ immigrants, we encourage you to gather your team and save the date for our 2026 Puzzle Palooza – April 25.
Picture of Andrea, Hannah, and Caroline as Oasis Champions
Follow Andrea, Hannah, and Caroline on social media at @penguins_puzzle, @hannahkaypuzzle, and @corsi.
And read their full interviews for more background information on each and their individual advice to other potential competitors.
–
A conversation with Hannah