The Official 2023 Puzzel of the Year Thread

[BalinTheDwarf]

It may have been a slow year on the forum, but there are still puzzels to be lauded, and a Puzzle of the Year must be selected by the masses.

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As usual, we will do it in two rounds: a nomination round and a voting round.

Here are the rules and guidelines as they were handed down from the years past.

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Please nominate your faves by posting the title and author of your favorite puzzles from this year. If you have the time, a link to the puzzle would be much appreciated. Nominate as many as you like.

Nominations will be closed around January 31st, but will not close them until everyone who expressed an interest has had a chance to post.

THE GUIDELINES

1. You must choose puzzles that were spoiled in 2022, that is, between 01 Jan 2023 00:00 GMT and 31 Dec 2023 23:59 GMT. In the solved section, that's the set between (and including) Sarisberie's "Funtime for Philip" and Doriana's "I would bike 500 miles."
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. (As I see it, we had only classical puzzles in 2023.)
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 and greatly appreciated.
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 you are encouraged to let us know afterward (or separately in the Chatroom) which 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 possibly a funny Top Gun style nickname for you.

Oh, and your puzzle title will be edited to say [PUZZEL OF THE YEAR 2023] after it.

The voting round will start as soon as the nomination is closed. Any puzzle that received at least two nominations is eligible for voting.

Thanks, and have fun.

[BalinTheDwarf]

I'll throw in my nominations; haven't ranked them yet.

[Doriana] Here come dat boi
[JenBurdoo] Unleaded
[GalFisk] Hi-Fi
[JenBurdoo] HELF
[Sarisberie] Still Life, With Trousers
[Doriana] On the nose
[WiZ] Rick Rolls
[Sundowner] The right assumption
[WiZ] Up and Item
[Doriana] I would bike 500 miles

[Sundowner64]

Here are my 10 nominees:

[GalFisk] Hi-Fi
[WiZ] Up and Item
[Doriana] I would bike 500 miles
[Doriana] On the nose
[Doriana] Feel the thunder
[Balin] Ain't that a notion?
[Doriana] To Mars
[Balin] What the new day shall bring
[Sarisberie] _TYPEWR_TER_
[Doriana] Here come dat boi

[doriana_]

My nominations for POTY 2023:

[WiZ] Up and Item
[Sundowner] The Right Assumption
[JenBurdoo] It was YOU!
[Balin] Frostbite Foresight
[GalFisk] Hi-Fi
[Balin] Them's the brakes
[Sarisberie] Good luck, Mr Górski

[GalFisk]

[BLC] No Ears Were Harmed For This Puzzle Because of the very amusing mix-up.
[Balin] Pomp and much ado Because this sounds like the kind of thing I would do if it happened to me.
[WiZ] Up and Item Because it's funny and relatable.
[Admin] Just a Word! Because it's very lateral.
[Doriana] On the nose Also very lateral, and sneaky.
[Sarisberie] In the Wine Bar -OAATP- Funny and silly.
[JenBurdoo] It was YOU! A good old lateral murder mystery.

[WiZ]

For the first time since 2016, it was easy to find a top five. Usual rubric.

[JenBurdoo] Smokey and the Bandits
[Balin] Them's the brakes
[Balin] Ain't that a notion?
[trebor2] For Want of a Nail
[Doriana] I would bike 500 miles

[Biograd1]

[JenBurdoo] Land of Princesses -- This one had me thoroughly stumped even well into the puzzle. And the whole idea of clauses like this is very lateral if you haven't heard of it.
[Balin] Them's the brakes -- Who knew Teslas could be that stupid?
[Doriana] To Mars -- A realistic situation that, nonetheless, is difficult to guess
[WiZ] Monky seed, monky do -- Though seed conservators who live on frigid islands may be the monks of botany, this connection is very lateral.
[WiZ] In the running for professor of cunning -- This one is just funny!
[Sarisberie] Paper -- What a clever way to spread kindness in the world.

[JenBurdoo1]

Lots of good Wiz puzzles this year...

[Doriana]Here Come Dat Boi I like nature/science puzzles, and this was quite lateral thinking for the protagonists!
[Balin]Them's the Brakes Classic style in the "queer question, perfect solution" sense.
[Sarisberie]Still Life, With Trousers Bloody hilarious, plus I like interesting cultural tidbits.
[Wiz]Rick Rolls Wiz always has such ingenious puzzle statements.
[Sundowner]The Right Assumption And Sundowner has lots of "local interest" tales from Germany.
[Wiz]Up and Item They're a bit different than the normal run of "weird situation" puzzles, but "what is this unidentified thing" puzzles always make me look at something in a new light.
[Wiz]Monky Seed, Monky Do So do "what do these two things have in common" puzzles.

[doriana_]

I would like to add
[JenBurdoo] Smokey and the Bandits
to my list of nominations. It was the first one out on my list, but still a great puzzle, and it has only gotten one nomination so far.

[BalinTheDwarf]

It's been a month so let's start the second round of voting!

You get three votes: first place is 3 points, second is 2, third is 1. Puzzle with the most points wins.

We usually give two weeks for voting, so let's put the deadline at the end of the day February 17.

Tiebreakers, in order:
-Most first-place votes
-Most second-place votes
-Most total votes (EDIT to add proper 3rd tiebreaker)
-Most nominations

You don't have to use all your votes, but you do have to have a clear 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (e.g. can't go 3-1.5-1.5). And as with the nominations, you can't vote on your own puzzles.

Incredibly, of the 28 puzzles nominated (omitting the one Admin puzzle in a nom list), exactly half -- 14 -- received multiple nominations. Alphabetically (book index order, not dictionary order, and including leading articles) by puzzle title, they are:

[Balin] Ain't that a notion?
[Doriana] Here come dat boi
[GalFisk] Hi-Fi
[Doriana] I would bike 500 miles
[JenBurdoo] It Was YOU!
[WiZ] Monky seed, monky do
[Doriana] On the nose
[WiZ] Rick Rolls
[JenBurdoo] Smokey and the Bandits
[Sarisberie] Still Life, With Trousers
[Sundowner] The right assumption
[Balin] Them's the brakes
[Doriana] To Mars
[WiZ] Up and Item


Good luck, everyone!

[GalFisk]

3 points: [Doriana] On the nose
2 points: [WiZ] Up and Item
1 point: [JenBurdoo] It was YOU!

[Sundowner64]

And these are my favorites.

3 points: [Balin] Ain't that a notion
2 points: [Doriana] To Mars
1 point: [JenBurdoo] Smokey and the Bandits

[BalinTheDwarf]

Trimming to 3 was a challenge (there are at least two that I want to vote for but have to leave out) but I'm going with:

3 points: [WiZ] Up and Item
2 points: [Sundowner] The right assumption
1 point: [Sarisberie] Still Life, With Trousers

[Biograd1]

3 points: The right assumption
2 points: Monky seed, monky do
1 point: Them's the brakes (I finally visited the forum thread that was the inspiration for this puzzle. Actually seeing what the moon looks like in that video, and reading the comments about what the car was doing, makes it at least somewhat more understandable than it was reading the puzzle answer...)

[JenBurdoo1]

Like Balin, I found it difficult to trim to three.

3 points: Monky Seed, Monky Do
2 points: Here Come Dat Boi
1 point: Rick Rolls

[BalinTheDwarf]

Just bumping this up for anyone who hasn't yet voted -- less than two days before voting ends, and it's a close one!

[doriana_]

3 points: [Sundowner] The Right Assumption
2 points: [WiZ] Up and Item
1 point: [GalFisk] Hi-Fi

[Sarisberie2]

3 points - WIZ - Up & Item

[WiZ]

I'm awake, I'm awake. Sorry, combination of FAWM and major unexpected life events.

3 - Ain't that a notion?
2 -Smokey and the Bandits
1 - I would bike 500 Miles

[BalinTheDwarf]

It's February 18, every puzzle in the second round got at least one vote, and voting swung over the final two days, but...

...with 10 points (two first- and two second-place votes) and a forum-leading 5 nominations, [WiZ] Up and Item is our 2023 Puzzel of the Year! Congratulations!

[GalFisk]

Congrats WiZ!

[WiZ]

Thanks, GalFisk, and thank you everyone for the votes!

Feels a little undeserved, given how low my participation was last year. I really must do better this year. Once February is over, I promise.

[Sundowner64]

Congratulations, WiZ!