Puzzler's jigsaw time-lapse posts attract 300k followers

Posting as puzzlesbynathan, Nathan Tozer said he gets hundreds of messages a month mostly from people under the age of 30.

A jigsaw enthusiast has attracted more than 300,000 social media followers by posting time-lapse videos of his puzzle sessions.

Nathan Tozer, who posts as puzzlesbynathan, has amassed 67,000 Instagram and 240,000 TikTok followers.

The 20-year-old from Bristol says he gets hundreds of messages a month, mostly from people under the age of 30.

He said: "I started in September [2019] and had 1,000 followers but as soon as lockdown hit it skyrocketed."

Mr Tozer, a University of Bristol student, first got interested in puzzles while studying for his GCSEs and has now completed about 50, including rainbow palettes and complicated landscapes.

"It's calming and makes all your anxieties go away for a short period."

Last year, he filmed himself completing a 1,000-piece puzzle in just under seven hours and after speeding it up to under a minute, posted it on social media.

"Almost overnight" he said he began attracting thousands of followers.

"At the moment, I'm working on a 6,000-piece puzzle called Cottage in the Hill," he said. "It's the biggest I've ever done but I've also got my eye on a 42,000-piece puzzle."

Despite it taking up to 56 hours to complete larger puzzles, Mr Tozer said he "quite enjoys breaking them up".

"A week after they're done, most of them end up back in the box," he said.

Puzzles and games have been a big seller during the pandemic, according to business analysts NPD.

Wentworth Puzzles, in Wiltshire, said its sales have almost doubled and they are also seeing demand from younger people.

"About 8% of buyers pre-Covid were in that [18 to 34] age range, post-Covid that's doubled," said Sarah Watson, from the company.