Indians set record with 25,000 jigsaw images online

Indian jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts have put together 25,000 images of a puzzle in an online challenge. The Limca Book of Records and the World Records Academy have cited it as the biggest jigsaw puzzle available on the Internet.

The challenge, which was initiated by Lipton Yellow Label Tea, was an attempt to put India on the sharpest thinkers' map, said Lipton spokesperson Vikram Grover at an event here Wednesday.

'The challenge was in perfect fusion with the interests of our brand. Our tea has adequate levels of Theanine (a green tea component) which helps to clear one's mind and stay sharp. The jigsaw challenge was an effort to bring the sharpest minds together to put India on the thinkers' map and set a world record,' said Grover, who is the Category Head (Beverages) at Hindustan Unilever.

'Now we are going to apply to the Guinnes Book of Records too,' he added.

According to organisers, the online challenge attracted over 180,000 participants. Each of them worked with 1,000 blocks of 25 pieces each to put together a large image especially designed for the challenge by international jigsaw genius Royce McClure.

The 12 fastest scorers were then called on to put together the image in its physical form, which measures 36x16 feet, and depicts animals and marine life and has lots of colour. According to McClure, the jigsaw simply depicts 'Life'.

It took the challengers eight weeks to put together the image online after which 12 top scorers took a week to give shape to the same image in its physical form at the Select City Walk Mall here.

The top scorers, who were aged between 18-45, were joined by Grover, McClure and Bollywood actress Konkona Sen Sharma to put together the last pieces of the jigsaw.

The challenge began April 22 and concluded June 30.

'I am glad we have created a record which actually required people to use their brains and not by just showing the number of parathas you can eat,' quipped Konkona, who looked elegant in a white kurta and black jeans.