Karen Kavett (Karen Puzzles)

So I used to be pretty close to the top.

You know, at my first competition, I got second place in individual, which was pretty good.

But at that time, there were a lot fewer people doing it.

There weren't even preliminary rounds at that point.

It was just one single individual round and, you know, with a hundred people in a room and that was it.

Now, there's so many more people doing it.

So going into nationals this year, which is 2026, we have four preliminary rounds going into the final.

And each of those preliminary rounds, I think, has 100 people in it.

So now that's 400 people trying to make it into the final and then trying to be at the top.

So I feel pretty confident that I will make it into the final because of, you know, trying to do the puzzles from last year and seeing where I would have placed.

I am under no delusion that I will be anywhere close to top three, top 10, anything like that.

Yeah.

I mean, there's just so many more people now who have gotten really fast.

I think when I started, I was reasonably fast, faster than your typical person off the street, which I still am.

But compared to the people who really practice and really get into it, I don't know that that's ever going to be me.

So to compete in individual here in the U.S.

for most of the big competitions, you have to be at least 16.

So they don't even let kids compete, even though there are some fast kids out there.

And then I would say it's mostly women, probably men.

at least 80% women, 85, 90% women.