Jena Hancock’s love of puzzling began approximately 10 years ago when a girlfriend showed her a collection of Dowdle puzzles and gave her one for Christmas. She was immediately hooked and went on to collect more than 150 Dowdle puzzles, purchasing them at full price before she even knew about Facebook Marketplace. Her enthusiasm led to her being featured on Dowdle’s website, where she was interviewed by Dowdle himself.
Eventually, she was introduced to Ravensburger puzzles and began selling her Dowdle collection to fund her new Ravensburger collection. She met a group of women in Cedar Hills who love puzzles as much as she does, and they try to gather once a month to complete a puzzle together. Her collection, now consisting of over 1,100 premium-brand puzzles, is stored in a storage unit — and she is now very familiar with Facebook Marketplace.
Jena moved to Utah 29 years ago. Born and raised in Louisiana, she later moved to California, where she met her husband. They then moved to Hawaii, but after encountering the island’s very large jumping spiders and centipedes — and following the birth of her son — they decided to leave. The family returned to California, where her daughter was born, before eventually settling in Utah, where she plans to stay for good.
Last year, Jena joined the Boardwalk Speed Puzzling competition and took first place in the Senior division (she jokes that she was the only Senior who showed up). This year, she placed second — this time competing against other Seniors. While she doesn’t consider herself particularly fast, she loves the camaraderie of the competition.
Utah Jigsaw Puzzle Association 