Belleville, Ont., woman shatters record with 40,000-piece jigsaw puzzle

When Maxine Olive puzzles, she puzzles hard.

The Belleville, Ont., resident recently set a record for completing the Ravensburger Memorable Moments puzzle — a 40,320-piece jigsaw puzzle that features 10 sections that depict popular Disney characters.

“The last known record for it was completing it in 423 hours, done by a gentleman down in the States,” says Olive.

“I managed to finish the puzzle in 150 hours.”

Olive completed the 150-hour feat in nine days, which she booked off work. She worked on the puzzle non-stop throughout that nine-day stretch, only stopping to eat and sleep. Even though she didn’t sleep all that often — her shortest day of puzzling was 13.5 hours, and at one point, she only took a one-hour nap over the span of two days.

“By that last day it felt like everything hurt and my brain was turning to mush,” Olive says.

“But I was so glad I did it and made it to the end.”

The completed puzzle comes in at 22 feet by six feet, and weighs more than 40 pounds. It took up Olive’s entire living room, and she had to move tables and appliances in her home to make room for it.

So due to the puzzle’s sheer size, she was forced to take it apart shortly after she finished it.

“I had never felt sad taking apart a puzzle until then,” jokes Olive.

So after 150 straight hours of assembling a puzzle the size of a towing trailer, you’d think a break would be in order. Olive is taking a brief break from puzzles, but that break will not last very long, and she’s got her sights set on an even bigger challenge.

“Kodak makes a 50,000-piece puzzle that I would love to try and tackle when I get the time and space,” she says.

Olive says she plans on submitting the video footage of her completing the puzzle to Guinness to apply for the official world record.