I snapped 91 matches last time I did a match-snapping record in 2019. This time I got 83. Why were both Guinness World Records titles? In 2019 I broke the 1-minute record and this time it was the 30-second variety.

Practice, percervierence, patience. I increased my speed dramatically using hand-strengthening exercises and a single-hand technique to break each match. I also had 21 matches I snapped but didn’t fully separate into two pieces so I was averaging nearly 3.5 broken matches per second but only 2.77 per second counted.

My sons and I then lined up all the broken matches in homemade playdough to make a fire snake.