LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — John Bradley loves puzzles. It's a fact of life.
Specifically "15 puzzles," which he discovered in middle school.
“In sixth grade, we used computers in our creative writing class. On the home screen, there was an option, all these applications like Minesweeper," Bradley said.
"There was also one of these (puzzles) but it was pictures and I thought ‘that’s kind of fun.’ That’s kind of how it got started and I’ve been solving ever since.”
Years of solving as he approaches graduation from Sayre School.
All of his practice led to Bradly gaining a competitive edge over anyone else around him working through similar puzzles.
One day, the edge brought Bradley face to face with the ultimately challenge.
Is he good enough to break a world record?
"Through my searches, through my competitions and stuff like that, I figured out that this Guinness World Record actually kind of seems breakable," Bradley said.
“I started practicing for like four months straight. I was just doing a few of these every single day.”
The official record was solving 10 puzzles consecutively in less than one minute and 23 seconds.
On Bradley's fourth attempt, he did it in 1 minute 16 seconds, officially becoming a Guinness World Record holder.
“It’s definitely nerve-racking. It’s just another factor. If you want to break a world record you have to be able to handle those nerves," Bradley said.
"I think that the hardest thing wasn’t getting the record. The hardest thing was putting my time in before hand. That’s really the work that let me get the record.”
Bradley has come a long way from passing time on a school computer.
His skill is now globally recognized, still leaving him in shock that he has a Guinness certificate with his name on it.
“Honestly, it’s unbelievable. It’s kind of crazy. When I was younger I never thought that this would happen. This is kind of insane," Bradley said.
"I would buy these Guiness World Record books from my school fair and now I’m just here with one of these Guiness World Records.”
