The Official 2021 Puzzel of The Year Thread

[Braindrop]

EDIT:

*************************ROUND 2...FIGHT!*****************************

We've had a total of 30 puzzles nominated. A whopping 18 of those had multiple nominations, and thus are up for round 2 of voting. They are the following, in alphabetical order of author:

[Balin(TheDwarf)] Judging a book by its cover
[CoffeeBean] Thinking In-Side the Box
[Doriana] Sugar and Tea and Rum
[gregoryuconn] Food, Glorious Food
[Hobbsicle (Braindrop)] Don't Call Us, We'll Call You
[Hobbsicle (Braindrop)] Till Death Metal Do Us Part
[IrishElk (Bardificer)] Just Joe Being Joe
[IrishElk (Bardificer)] Socially Un-Awkward
[JenBurdoo] Eau de Toilette
[JenBurdoo] Marching All Before Ye
[JenBurdoo] Observance of the Law
[klondike mary] Sign here
[Mimino] 9am
[peter365] Ignore Land
[peter364] Looking at your watch a third time
[WiZ] Ill Met
[WiZ] Untitled (Track 11)
[Yerushalmi] Duck, Your Holiness

Early congrats to JenBurdoo, who has the most puzzles (3) in Round 2, and to WiZ, who had the most total puzzles nominated (5).

Vote for your top three puzzles in order. Votes will be tallied using a 3-2-1 point system. After two weeks, the puzzle with the most points will be named Puzzel of the Year 2021. (In case of a tie, number of Round 1 nominations will be the first tiebreaker, number of first-place votes will be the second, and number of second-place votes will be the third.)

Good luck, and may the best puzzle die mysteriously in a field.

********************************************************************************************

Happy New Year! Last year was a bit rocky for the forum, but it would be a shame not to continue the tradition, so let's pick a puzzle of the year for 2021.

Here are the rules and guidelines:

* * * *

Please nominate your favorites by posting the title and author of your favorite puzzles from the previous year. If you have the time, a link to the puzzle would be much appreciated. Nominate as many as you like. Even if you weren't all that active last year, or are new to the forum, please feel free to take the time to look over the puzzles and vote.

Nominations will be closed around January 23rd, but will not close until everyone who expressed an interest has had a chance to post. Any puzzle that was nominated more than once will make it to the final round, where we each vote for our top three.

THE GUIDELINES

1. You must choose puzzles that were spoiled in 2021. In the Solved section, that starts with JenBurdoo's "Probably a Quickie?" and ends with Balin's "Kat of nine tales." This also includes any puzzles still on the Active Board if they were solved by 12/31/21 GMT.
2. You must nominate classical-style puzzles. Novelty or special puzzle types, such as lateral adventures and rulebreakers, as much as we love them, are ineligible for this list. OAATPs are considered a subset of classical puzzles and are eligible. Neologisms may be eligible, as long as there is a classic lateral twist involved.
3. You may rank the puzzles. This won't weight them any more heavily for consideration for round two, but it's nice for forum users to see that their puzzle was someone's particular favorite.
4. You must provide the name of the puzzle and the host. You are not obliged to provide a hyperlink, but it is useful.
5. You may choose multiple puzzles by the same host, or keep it to one per LTPFer if you'd prefer.
6. You may not submit one of your own puzzles or vote for yourself, but I do encourage people to let us know afterword, or separately in the Chatroom: what was your favorite of your own puzzles this year?
7. You are not obligated to justify your choice or explain your criteria, but it can be nice for the hosts to see what they did especially well.

THE PRIZE
Our undying awe and gratitude. Renewed confidence in your awesome mental capabilities. And something to brag to your mother about.

Oh, and your puzzle title will be edited to say [PUZZEL OF THE YEAR 2021] after it.

Happy voting!

[Sundowner64]

Many thanks Braindrop for starting the nomination round for this year.

And here are my top ten. (in no particular order)

CoffeeBean: My Friend Jeremy, Walking Psychic
Doriana: I can still remember
WiZ: Untitled (Track 11)
klondike mary: Sign here
gregoryuconn: Food, Glorious Food
Yerushalmi: Duck, Your Holiness
JenBurdoo: Observance of the law
IrishElk: Just Joe being Joe
peter365: Looking at your watch a third time
Admin: Unintended consequences

[doriana_]

Thanks for keeping the tradition alive! Here are my 2021 favourites:

JenBurdoo - Eau de toilette
IrishElk - Just Joe Being Joe
Mimino - 9 AM
WiZ - Good Call
WiZ - The Path of Priest Resistance
IrishElk - 12 Angry Persons
Hobbsicle - Till Death Metal Do Us Part

[Bardificer]

Thank you Hobbs for setting it up, and thank you for the (IrishElk) nominations! I'll stick to my one puzzle per person rule, although I'll say Did [WiZ] Just Post a Puzzle in February? was also a very close contender for me.

My top nine:
[JenBurdoo] Marching All Before Ye: I wasn't kidding back in January, still one of my favs! The mental image is wonderful.
[Doriana] Sugar and Tea and Rum: One of those lateral solutions to everyday problems that makes for a great puzzle.
[Balin] Judging a book by its cover: Always love some charitable defacement of property.
[CoffeeBean] Thinking In-Side The Box: A wild-sounding situation with a satisfying solution, plus Batman!
[WiZ] Ill Met (OAATP): A real classic. I could easily see it in any book collection.
[peter365] Ignore Land: I love puzzles that include true facts that I didn't know, but make perfect sense when I hear them.
[klondike mary] Sign here: Good puzzle for using on people IRL--not too complicated but requires a real lateral leap.
[GalFisk] Lies, damned lies, and statistics: Good twist to figure out, and also adorable!
[Braindrop] Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You: Classic case of an everyday situation being turned strange through puzzlization. Love it.

[WiZ]

Rambling and methodology ahead: I'll do the online recipe thing and allow you to jump to the important bits.

Despite the small number of puzzles this year, the selection still took me a while. I have once again kept it to one puzzle per host, largely as everyone's output was (to my eyes) of a very consistent quality - relatively few obvious 'singles' for me; you may disagree.

I liked some questions better than others, and some solutions better than others. Typically, the good statements and good answers weren't held in the same puzzle. In the end I settled for the 'yes, but is it a puzzle?' acid test - did the puzzle make the best use of the format, asking a simple and intriguing question and providing a simple and satisfying answer?

Doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the puzzles I didn't settle on, though. JenBurdoo's in particular often had very interesting solutions - I supppose military tactics are an endless wellspring of applied lateral logic.

One other thing that struck me was that a number of the puzzles would serve as a worthy inclusion in a book/anthology aimed at first-timers a la Paul's books: they were straightforward, and, although the solutions didn't completely set me alight, they were good, simple answers that fit their questions perfectly. I will include them in the next post as well.

[WiZ]

POTY nominees:

Yerushalmi - Duck, Your Holiness

Peter365 - Looking at your Watch a Third Time

JenBurdoo - Eau de Toilette

GregoryUConn - Food, Glorious Food

IrishElk/Bardificer - Socially Un-Awkward

Mimino - 9 AM

Hobbsicle/Braindrop - Don't Call us, We'll Call You

For the Anthology:

JenBurdoo - Extended Service

Doriana - An Apple a Day

Balin - This sentence is Beth

Klondike Mary - Sign here

[Sundowner64]

The Century Award of 2021 goes uncontestedly to Balin.

Balin: Arrive at home (an homage)

It is the only puzzle in 2021 that attracted more than 100 responses.

(And I know what we were missing this year.)

[Braindrop]

When I saw Bardificer's nominations, I thought, "did she see my list somehow"? We're on the same page this year for many of our picks, it seems.

[IrishElk] Socially Un-Awkward - I love how twisty this one seems, yet wonderfully concise and satisfying in its solution.

[Balin] Judging a book by its cover - I like both of the puzzles Balin did based on this particular book, but this one seemed slightly stronger because more extreme measures are taken, but still seems quite reasonable at the end.

[Doriana] Sugar and Tea and Rum - I think last year (maybe the year before?) I voted for one of Doriana's puzzles about her strange behavior watching videos. And yet again another great puzzle on the topic. Can't wait to see what video-watching antics she has cooked up for us this year.

[WiZ] - Ill Met - A classic-style lateral puzzle in which people die in unusual-sounding circumstances, and yet this one has a nice bittersweet human touch to it.
[WiZ] Untitled Track 11 Rats, I was trying to do one per author, but I kept going back and forth on which one I preferred, so I just put both. Sorry, WiZ. I was digging your fun melancholy this year, I guess.

[JenBurdoo] Observance of the Law - I liked many of JenBurdoo's puzzles this year, but this was the one that I think I enjoyed most. I always learn so much lateral trivia through her puzzles.

[CoffeeBean] Thinking In-Side The Box - This was certainly one of my favorite puzzle statements this year. So wild-sounding. And a neat story as a solution.

[peter365] Ignore Land - This one is a lot of fun, and Peter's presentation really, er, adds a lot of flavor.

[klondike mary] Sign here - I'm always on the lookout for those quick lateral puzzles that I can easily share, and this one fits that bill perfectly

[BalinTheDwarf]

Been a while.

[JenBurdoo] Marching All Before Ye
[Yerushalmi] Take(out) them into custody
[Doriana] Sugar and Tea and Rum
[Hobbsicle] Till Death Metal Do Us Part
[WiZ] You get used to the carjackings
[JenBurdoo] Saved by Fate
[gregoryuconn] Food, Glorious Food
[peter365] Looking at your watch a third time
[Doriana] Under the radar
[peter365] Ignore Land
[klondike mary] Sign here
[klondike mary] Never heard of it
[WiZ] Untitled (Track 11)
[Mimino] 9 AM

[Braindrop]

Last call for nominations, then I’ll get round 2 going tomorrow.

[Braindrop]

****************ROUND 2...FIGHT!*******************

We've had a total of 30 puzzles nominated. A whopping 18 of those had multiple nominations, and thus are up for round 2 of voting. They are the following, in alphabetical order of author:

[Balin(TheDwarf)] Judging a book by its cover
[CoffeeBean] Thinking In-Side the Box
[Doriana] Sugar and Tea and Rum
[gregoryuconn] Food, Glorious Food
[Hobbsicle (Braindrop)] Don't Call Us, We'll Call You
[Hobbsicle (Braindrop)] Till Death Metal Do Us Part
[IrishElk (Bardificer)] Just Joe Being Joe
[IrishElk (Bardificer)] Socially Un-Awkward
[JenBurdoo] Eau de Toilette
[JenBurdoo] Marching All Before Ye
[JenBurdoo] Observance of the Law
[klondike mary] Sign here
[Mimino] 9am
[peter365] Ignore Land
[peter364] Looking at your watch a third time
[WiZ] Ill Met
[WiZ] Untitled (Track 11)
[Yerushalmi] Duck, Your Holiness

Early congrats to JenBurdoo, who has the most puzzles (3) in Round 2, and to WiZ, who had the most total puzzles nominated (5).

Vote for your top three puzzles in order. Votes will be tallied using a 3-2-1 point system. After two weeks, the puzzle with the most points will be named Puzzel of the Year 2021. (In case of a tie, number of Round 1 nominations will be the first tiebreaker, number of first-place votes will be the second, and number of second-place votes will be the third.)

Good luck, and may the best puzzle die mysteriously in a field.

[doriana_]

Great line-up for round 2, and difficult to pick just three! But here we go...

#3 JenBurdoo - Eau de Toilette
#2 points: IrishElk - Socially Un-Awkward (Not sure how or why I overlooked this in gem in the first round!)
*drumroll*
#1 Mimino - 9AM

[Sundowner64]

And here is my choice:

3 points: [peter365] Looking at your watch a third time
2 points: [JenBurdoo] Observance of the Law
1 point: [Yerushalmi] Duck, Your Holiness

[BalinTheDwarf]

Agree that narrowing down to three was tricky. I'm going with:

#1 (3 points): [gregoryuconn] Food, Glorious Food
#2 (2 points): [peter365] Ignore Land
#3 (1 points): [Hobbsicle] Till Death Metal Do Us Part

[WiZ]

Can we perhaps agree to phrase our selections in terms of points? (or ranking, as long as we choose one and stick to it)

3 points: [Peter365] Looking at your watch a third time
2 points: [Mimino] 9 AM
1 point: [JenBurdoo] Eau de Toilette

[Biograd1]

Here are mine:
3 points: [IrishElk] Socially Un-Awkward
2 points: [gregoryuconn] Food, Glorious Food
1 point: [Hobbsicle (Braindrop)] Don't Call Us, We'll Call You

By the way Braindrop, I just listened to an episode of your podcast today. It was the latventure about the scientist's laboratory, and I really enjoyed it. I know you didn't come up with that one yourself, but I'm curious which ones you did put on there.

[trebor2]

Here are mine:

3: Don't Call Us, We'll Call You
2: Sugar and Tea and Rum
1: Untitled (Track 11)

[JenBurdoo1]

Difficult to decide - so many of these are good. I am surprised and honored to have had so many nominated, as it was a slow puzzling-year for me!

1pt: Food, Glorious Food (mostly because my family has actually done this in the past, fond memories)

2pts: Duck, Your Holiness (classic style of statement and solution)

3pts: Judging a Book By Its Cover (perfectly satisfying)

[Bardificer]

Sorry for the delay in my round 2 votes:

3 points: [Hobbsicle (Braindrop)] Don't Call Us, We'll Call You
2 points: [peter365] Ignore Land
1 point: [klondike mary] Sign here

[Braindrop]

Well, I clearly let it go longer than two weeks, sorry about that, but glad to see a few more join in. I'll go ahead and cast my votes:

3 Points: [Irishelk/Bardificer] Socially Unawkward
2 Points: [Doriana] Sugar and Tea and Rum
1 Point: [Peter365] Ignore Land

I'll give it through the weekend, just to catch any stragglers.

[Braindrop]

And the Oscar goes to...

Bardificer (formerly IrishElk) for Socially Unawkward!

Congrats, Bardificer, and well-deserved. Congrats also to all the other puzzlers who got nominations and second-round votes, as there were quite a few in the running. Let's keep 'em coming this year!

[GalFisk]

Congrats!

[Sundowner64]

Congratulations, Bardificer!

[WiZ]

Well done, IrishBard! (ElkFisher?) You are the first LTPFer to defend a PoTY title.

I'll have to find half an hour to write the Cleus section for these ones.

[Bardificer]

Awww! Thank you all so much! We had so many really strong contenders thus year, I feel honored.

(and I will answer to ElkFisher with pride )