How Long Does A 500-Piece Puzzle Take?

One great way to relax after a long and stressful day of work is to sit down with a nice puzzle. Jigsaw puzzles vary in size, the number of pieces, difficulty, design, and purpose, meaning that there are endless possibilities and puzzles to keep you busy.

Puzzles are a great activity for both young and old. They are also great for doing with friends or completing by yourself. If you're relatively new to puzzling, you may be wondering about how much time and patience are needed to complete various puzzles. How long does it take to complete a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle? Well, the answer depends on the skill level of the puzzler and how challenging the puzzle is meant to be.

Let's break down some puzzle factors to determine how long it might take you.

Factors That Can Affect Completion Time

Whether you solve puzzles like it's a game or use them as a way to relax, they will likely take an average puzzler a few hours at least.

As we've said, there are many different types of jigsaw puzzles out there that will range in difficulty and completion time. Even the most skilled puzzlers may still take hours to complete a jigsaw puzzle if it’s an extremely difficult one.

Level of Difficulty

If you're asking yourself "How long does a 500 piece puzzle take?" the first thing to do is determine what kind of puzzle you have.

There are usually a few signs to look out for when picking a puzzle. The size of the puzzle piece will often tell you a lot about the puzzle. Bigger jigsaw puzzle pieces often mean that the puzzle is a bit easier than a puzzle with smaller pieces.

The Pieces Themselves

The image created and the pattern, colours, and shape of the pieces or puzzle itself can also affect the time it would take to complete it. For example, some puzzles are meant to create different shapes instead of just your average rectangle. This would make the whole process more challenging as there would be fewer corner pieces and oddly shaped pieces.

The Skill of The Puzzler

If you consider yourself an avid and skilled puzzler, a 500 piece puzzle might not seem like much of a challenge. A 500 piece puzzle can take an average of anywhere between 2-6 hours for a relatively skilled puzzler. Depending on the puzzle's difficulty, this time frame can be extended or shortened.

As you develop as a puzzler, you'll find that you can finish them in shorter amounts of time and challenge yourself to more difficult puzzles. To get an idea of how long a 500 piece puzzle would take to complete, you might try doing an easier one and timing yourself.

No matter what kind of puzzle you're doing, it does take a good amount of brain power and commitment to solve the puzzle over the course of one sitting.

Puzzling For Fun

Puzzles are a great way to unwind and take your mind off other stresses or work. So, unless you're into speed puzzling or want to have a good estimate for how long a 500 or 1000 piece puzzle will take you, there's no rush.

Even if you take roughly a minute for every one piece, that will still take you about 8 hours to complete, not including breaks for other aspects of life. The point of puzzling isn't necessarily about completing it in as little time as possible, but more about solving the jigsaw to create a beautiful picture or piece of art.

If the puzzle takes you a week to complete, that's okay too! Puzzles are great to set up on a common room table and chip away throughout your day, putting in a couple of pieces here and there until it’s solved.

500-Piece Solving Record

While an average 500 piece jigsaw puzzle could take even a highly skilled puzzler a couple of hours, there is a person out there who holds the world record for the fastest time to complete a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle.

Jana Hanzelková (from the Czech Republic) currently holds the record for the fastest time after she completed the puzzle in 46 minutes and 35 seconds at the first World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship in 2019.

You can only imagine how fast Hanzelková was placing pieces in order to finish the puzzle in under one hour! 

Browse Our Collection

If you're looking for new 500 piece jigsaw puzzles to unwind with, check out our collection! Along with your average 500 piece puzzle, we also feature jigsaws in various sizes and number of pieces. Ranging from 275 to 2000 pieces, you're sure to find something for every person and every puzzler.