Jigsaw puzzling is traditionally considered a relaxing activity associated with mindfulness benefits, but the gentle hobby has gone all Squid Game as competitive “speed puzzling fever” grips the UK.

Entries are selling fast for the inaugural UK Nationals event in Bradford on 5 April, when hundreds of contestants will race against the clock to solve never-seen-before puzzles.

It will be the UK’s first speed puzzling tournament affiliated with the “puzzle Olympics”, the prestigious world championship, with finishers awarded a ranking. “Like any competition, we take rules seriously,” said the organiser, Anneka Thompson, who is also the founder of the UK Jigsaw Puzzle Association.

There is growing “buzz” about speed puzzling, with the hobby’s profile raised by puzzlers with their own YouTube channels and Instagram feeds. As a result, events around the country were drawing ever larger numbers, she said.

“Puzzling is generally seen as quite a relaxing pastime; you might do some one day, some the next … It’s kind of a slow-moving thing,” Thompson said. “But speed puzzling, for me personally, is a way to shut my brain off. You can’t think about the shopping or what’s happening with work. It’s hyper-focused, go, go, go. It’s also that competition draw. You’re competing against all the people around you.”

Puzzling has enjoyed a renaissance since the coronavirus pandemic when many Britons discovered or rediscovered the pastime that fans bill as a great way to switch off.

Jigsaws have also shaken off their association with older generations thanks to younger role models such as the Spider-Man actor Tom Holland, who shared a picture of him puzzling at home during lockdown.

There are other big events, including the long-running British Jigsaw Championships (now renamed the Gibsons Open Jigsaw Championships) in Newmarket, Suffolk. However, UK Nationals is the first in the country following standards set by the World Jigsaw Puzzle Federation. There are two categories with 200 singles, followed by 200 pairs competing in a single round for the title. Individuals must complete a 500-piece puzzle, while the pairs must tackle 1,000 pieces.

The Bradford event is being sponsored by the puzzle company Ravensburger, which has developed a brand new puzzle for each competition. The jigsaws are veiled in secrecy, with the designs developed by experts in its puzzle team in Bicester, Oxfordshire.

“Speed puzzling fever has really taken hold,” said Katy Fletcher, Ravensburger’s head of marketing and product development. “There is something unique about jigsaw puzzles; the same simple activity can be experienced in very different ways, but both provide that focus on the here and now.”

If you are cracking your knuckles in anticipation, you had better get practising as the times of champion speed puzzlers are measured in minutes (as opposed to hours or even days).

At the recent world championships, held in Valladolid, Spain, the individual winner completed a 500-piece puzzle in 37min 38sec. In the pairs rounds, the winners managed a 1,000-piece puzzle in 47min 41sec.

But what is the secret to rapid piece finding? There are different schools of thought that run the gamut from sorting pieces in a specific way to not at all, starting with the edges or even trying to puzzle with both hands.

The winning strategy “depends on the puzzle”, said Thompson, who suggested the best method was “something you figure out the more puzzles you do. There’s a lot that goes into getting faster but I think for new people, it’s just setting a timer and seeing how you go.”