{"id":574,"date":"2024-04-22T12:00:38","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T12:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/codez.me\/?p=574"},"modified":"2024-04-24T01:22:24","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T01:22:24","slug":"how-puzzling-can-help-you-get-your-edge-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/codez.me\/index.php\/2024\/04\/22\/how-puzzling-can-help-you-get-your-edge-back\/","title":{"rendered":"How puzzling can help you get your edge back"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve completed 17 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzles in the past 14 weeks. Mostly by myself.<\/p>\n

Over that same time, I also cut way back on booze, halved my phone screen time (okay, it\u2019s maybe 30% less), and gone on a dozen hikes. All without losing a single cardboard piece.<\/p>\n

I never really saw myself as a puzzler, but it\u2019s become a nice way to put aside the problems of the world and focus on something else for five or 10 minutes, or for a couple of hours. It helps with my sometimes short attention span, and puzzles are extremely satisfying to finish.<\/p>\n

And while 17 puzzles might sound like a lot, it\u2019s nothing when you consider that Northglenn\u2019s Erin Leidy had so many puzzles in her house at one point \u2013 \u201ca couple hundred at least,\u201d she says \u2013 that she had to start a business just to get rid of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey take up so much room. And I didn\u2019t have any more room,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But the business only made things more crowded. Shortly after founding The Missing Piece Puzzle Exchange<\/a> in October 2020, selling mail-order puzzles out of her garage, Leidy had to evict her car to make space for them \u2026 then her wife Denise\u2019s car. Finally, last September, Leidy opened a retail store at 7188 Lowell Blvd. in Westminster where there are an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 puzzles on the shelves, ranging in size from 300 pieces to 3,000, and of all skill levels.<\/p>\n

New puzzles are expensive, though: good ones typically start at $20-$25 each and go up from there. So, the Missing Piece rents puzzles, too. It costs $25 per month for locals to rent an unlimited number of puzzles; out-of-state residents can sign up for monthly or yearly options.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people buy a puzzle and then they don\u2019t do them again,\u201d Leidy explained about the one-and-done nature of puzzling. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like books, or just like books.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also got hundreds of used puzzles \u2013 all checked for missing pieces \u2013 for sale, some as low as $1 each. Others cost $5 to $10, which is a fraction of what you would pay new.<\/p>\n

\"Erin
Erin Leidy (center) founded The Missing Piece Puzzle Exchange in 2020 and opened a retail store in 2023. Emily Bennett is at left and Denise Hoffman is at right. (Provided by Erin Leidy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Leidy, who was an Allstate insurance agent before starting The Missing Piece, did her first puzzle in 2008 while renting a cabin in the mountains that had one. From there, the hobby grew, and she now competes in, and organizes, speed-puzzling events around Denver.<\/p>\n

Puzzling exploded as a popular pastime during the COVID-19 pandemic \u2013 just as Leidy was getting her business off the ground \u2013 as people searched for things to do in the seclusion of their own homes. Manufacturers and retailers had trouble keeping up with the demand as sales rose by 300 to 370%, according to reported numbers at the time. As an example, Boulder\u2019s high-end Liberty Puzzles, which makes $150 art pieces, received 10,000 orders in the days after the pandemic began, something that almost destroyed the small business<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Once society began approaching normalcy in 2021, however, interest slowed down. But it didn\u2019t stop \u2013 and Leidy believes that a lot of people who enjoyed puzzling have stuck with it since then, the 29- to 45-year-old age group, in particular. \u201cIt was a surprising demographic to me,\u201d she said. \u201cI thought 45-55, but it was the whole demographic below that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s something that people can do that isn\u2019t on your phone, a way to step back and enjoy something without technology,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Puzzling has also been shown to relieve stress, improve one\u2019s mood and improve short-term memory<\/a>, attention to detail and other brain functions.\u00a0Some therapists even recommend it to people as a tool to help with addiction recovery. Leidy has customers who said it helped them stop smoking, especially in the first few weeks.<\/p>\n