LChildren stop drawing as they grow up, with some exceptions. The same goes for those who play puzzles. With some exceptions, too. In this genre, Sophie de Goncourt is a textbook case. This 54-year-old lawyer, who says she has not “never stopped”is today to the scrolled cardboard piece what Jeannie Longo was to the racing bicycle: an extraordinary champion.
For several years, the puzzle has in fact been divided into competitions, the aim of which is to fit together the pre-cut elements of an image from its model as quickly as possible. In this game, Sophie de Goncourt has built a unique record, with victories at the World Puzzle Championships (three), the French Open, the 24 Hours of Belgium, the championships of Luxembourg, Spain, Russia… little tired of its hegemony, the competition beast turned into an organizer by launching its own event, the French Puzzle Open. More than seventy participants, from all over France, are expected this Sunday, June 16 at the Aubigné-Racan village hall (Sarthe), where she lives.
From Monday to Friday, Sophie de Goncourt practices her job in a high-pressure professional environment about which she cannot say anything for security reasons. The puzzle acts as a decompression airlock for her. “It calms me down, clears my headshe confides. It is a silent and solitary activity which provides the same sensations as sewing or crosswords, and which produces nothing on a material level: your puzzle as soon as finished, all you have to do is undo it and store in its box. »
When it comes to “boxes”, the player is not helpless. Some 1,500 specimens, 500 to 1,500 pieces, mostly purchased commercially or won in competitions, adorn the walls of a room in his house. In the middle, a huge table of around ten square meters is occupied by works in progress.
Sophie de Goncourt says she gets her strength from her ambidexterity. When everyone uses only one hand to place a piece, they use both at the same time to scrounge up precious seconds. Unlike Sunday fans, the champion never starts by assembling the edges: “It wastes time, and we risk breaking everything with one nudge. It is better to sort the pieces by color and compose sequences that can be fitted together later. »
Overbidding
Another preconceived idea: the difficulty of a puzzle does not lie in the number of its pieces, but in the composition of its image. “A Van Gogh of 500 pieces, like The sunflowerswill take much longer to finish than a Mondrian painting of 1,500 pieces »says the expert, regretting that competition organizers are playing a certain one-upmanship at the moment: “What is the point of offering a puzzle representing the Eiffel Tower in the middle of the night that a quarter of those registered will not be able to complete, as happened recently during a test? »
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