Maintaining intense concentration and keeping a cool head were the order of the day at the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship.

The festival in the Spanish city of Valladolid offered a stage for the fastest and best puzzle enthusiasts to demonstrate their agility.

Tackling never-before-seen puzzles, they competed against the clock, against other competitors, and against themselves.

In all, competitors from 72 countries took part in the tournament, which began 15 September and finishes on 21 September.

The first annual championship was held in Valladolid in 2019.

The coronavirus pandemic meant the city didn't host another tournament until 2022.

But with puzzling becoming a favourite pastime during COVID-19, the championship has become hugely popular.

This year, nearly 4,000 participants battled it out in the team, pairs and individual competitions.

Polish competitor Weronika Huptas took the individual title on Saturday, completing a complex puzzle in just over 39 minutes.

She also shared the pairs title, with Anna Kazana, marking a double victory for Poland.

The team competition final takes place on Sunday.

The contests are staged like endurance races: in the team final, groups have three hours to solve two 1,000-piece puzzles.

In the pairs competition, the limit is two hours for a single 1,000-piece puzzle.

The individual final, the fastest and most intense, gives puzzlers 75 minutes to finish a 500-piece set.

Organizers say speed puzzling is more than just competition.

They say research shows it can improve memory, concentration and spatial reasoning, and also foster social connections.