Crystal Couple Treat State Fairgoers to Puzzles with a Twist

Amidst the large crowd at the Minnesota State Fair is a puzzle. A puzzle with a twist.

“We’re just trying to make the jigsaw experience more fun and having that little surprise of discovering something new is infectious, it’s fun,” said Tony Nelson, co-owner of PuzzleTwist.

Nelson started PuzzleTwist with his wife, Candace. The twist behind the puzzle is the picture on the box is different than the end result.

“I always say the best part of the puzzle is putting in that last piece, but when you’re doing a twist, seeing something develop and figure out what it is, you have that feeling all the way throughout the puzzle and we hear it over and over again that they love the twist,” said Nelson.

This puzzle by artist Steve Barry features the State Fair with a twist.

PuzzleTwist Collaborates with Artists

The Nelsons’ idea soon became a collaboration with Twin Cities artists. Those include Steve Barry of Crystal and Adam Turman, who owns an art studio in Golden Valley.

“It’s really fun to meet the people who are passionate about putting these puzzles together,” said Barry, who showed puzzles to fairgoers at the PuzzleTwist booth.

“Their puzzles are just super high quality and they’re amazing,” said Turman.

For fairgoers the thought of a getting a puzzle at the State Fair is, well, no longer puzzling.

“I thought for a Christmas gift, but we’re kind of interested in getting something for ourselves,” one customer told CCX News.

“It just looks something different than your normal puzzle,” said another.

And for Tony Nelson, that’s the right idea.

“We’re not trying to make it the world’s most impossible frustrating puzzle, that’s not us,” he said. “We’re trying to make the overall jigsaw experience just more fun.”

Also See: Golden Valley Art Studio Owner: State Fair ‘Like Our Holiday’

Crystal | Golden Valley | Twin Cities