Can you believe we’ve already finished another year? This was our 5th year in business and it’s wild how much has happened and how much we’ve been able to grow, thanks to you. Before we jump straight into 2026, we wanted to take a look back, reflect, and celebrate all the great things that happened in 2025. We’re more grateful than ever to all of you, our subscribers, and we couldn’t have done any of this without you!
This year, the national speed puzzling competition was held April 4-6 in Washington D.C. as part of AwesomeCon, one of the largest fan conventions on the East Coast. It was the largest event we’d ever attended with a booth and it was so busy and exciting! We loved spotting our “Everyday I’m Puzzlin’” t-shirt mixed in with the puzzle gear that everyone was decked out in, plus the elaborate AwesomeCon cosplay from every fandom you can think of.
We got to meet so many of our wonderful subscribers, introduce new people to the joy of renting puzzles, and cheer on all the speed puzzling competitors. We were, of course, cheering the hardest for our collaborators and sponsored puzzlers, Jessa (@jigsawjessa) and Joyce (@joyce.puzzles).
Joyce got her personal best in-competition time in her Individual Prelim round and qualified for Pairs Finals for the first time at Nationals. Jessa came in 2nd in the Team Final with her team, 13th in the Pair Final with her partner, and 30th in the Individual Final (5th in her Prelim)! Woo hoo!
One of the things we often hear from you is how much you love discovering brands through us that you’ve never tried before. So we were thrilled to welcome three new brands to our rental catalog this year: Boardwalk, Puzzles of Color, and Clementoni!
Boardwalk Puzzle Company was the first to join, with four designs going out to our subscribers starting in January. Two of the designs quickly became favorites and the top two most added to our customers’ wishlists this year: Book Shop and Hollywood. Boardwalk makes cardboard and wooden puzzles - and maybe you’ve seen their puzzles for sale at Costco!
In February, Clementoni came on board with 13 of their puzzles added to our catalog (two more were added later in the year). Clementoni is an Italian brand that has been making puzzles since the ‘70s, and we were excited to bring their high quality puzzles and stunning landscapes to our subscribers. In fact, four of these new additions became fan favorites and among the top 10 most wishlisted puzzles in our catalog!
Our newest addition to the catalog, Puzzles of Color, came on board in March with three vibrant designs. They’re a small family business and our neighbors in the Dallas area! We also had a chance to interview them, and you can learn more about how they got started, how they collaborate with artists, and more by reading the interview blog.
We’ve got some speedy puzzlers in our community so we’re trying to keep up with the demand! We added 117 new puzzles to our rental catalog in 2025, giving subscribers even more variety and new challenges to tackle. In addition to the three new brands mentioned above, we added more puzzles from Dowdle, Cobble Hill, Eurographics, Art & Fable, Galison, New York Puzzle Company, and more.
While 1,000-piece puzzles continue to be our most popular, we also grew our collection of beginner (200-300 pieces) and intermediate (500-750 pieces) puzzles to give puzzlers of all levels and preferences even more options.
Thanks to all of you, we continued to grow this year, which meant it was time to expand our team! We added logistics staff to support behind the scenes, and we also brought on a new member to our front-facing team - and you may have talked to her already!
Riley Clifton joined us in August to manage our affiliate program collaborating with influencers and to support operations and administrative duties. Riley has actually been a Completing the Puzzle subscriber since 2023, becoming a fan of the sustainable and clutter-free approach! She’s been puzzling for as long as she can remember, loving the peace it brings - and of course, the satisfaction when the last piece fits.
Riley brought fantastic experience as an Event Coordinator extraordinaire for almost 7 years for a character entertainment company. There, she helped bring princesses, superheroes, and smiles to birthday parties and large events, helping families create lifelong memories. She’s the perfect fit to help us bring our subscribers and their families puzzle joy, and we’re so glad to have her on board!
We’re buzzing with excitement at the buzz we got in some major media outlets this year! We were featured in TODAY, Real Simple magazine, Pop Sugar, MSN, Yahoo, and more. You can check out more of our press here. We want to spread puzzle joy to as many people as possible, so we love that we’re able to reach new audiences!
Wow! Reflecting on 2025 has reminded us what a big year we’ve had! And we’re hoping to make 2026 even bigger. We’ve already been working on some things that we’re excited to share with you. Stay tuned to see what we’re cooking up for you in the new year!
We love to hear from you, so if you have any feedback about all the changes from this year, drop us a line! Feel free to comment below or reach out over email or social media.
We can’t wait to continue puzzling with you in 2026. Maybe we’ll even see you in person at a puzzle event!
If you’re not a Completing the Puzzle member yet, we’d love to welcome you into our community! Join us here. Hint hint: a Completing the Puzzle membership also makes an amazing gift for the puzzlers in your life!
Happy New Year from your Completing the Puzzle family!