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This question is part of the best-puzzle award series.

What are your nominations for the best puzzles, here on Puzzling.SE, of the first quarter (Jan/ Feb / Mar) 2016?

Suggested guidelines for nomination:

  • Nominate each individual puzzle in a separate answer, so they can be upvoted/downvoted separately.

  • No more than 3 nominations per person.

  • Don't nominate your own puzzles.

  • Before you nominate a puzzle, check to see if someone else has already nominated it. If they have then add to that nomination as a comment (or edit it), instead of nominating the same puzzle again.

  • In your nomination, explain what it is that (in your opinion) makes the nominated puzzle such a good one.

Some lists to help jog your memory (your nomination doesn't have to be from these lists):

Meta-meta issues:

  • Is this kind of thing allowed on SE?

  • What's the point?

    • To highlight and encourage good practice in a way that goes beyond upvotes.

    • To work towards building a 'hall of fame' of some of the best puzzles on the site (perhaps to reside on a future puzzling.SE blog) - think of it as our 'greatest hits album'. :)

    • To prompt members to put forward their own reflections on what makes a high-quality puzzle.

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  • $\begingroup$ So, to clarify, are we voting on posts from the First Quarter of 2016 or on posts from the Fourth Quarter of 2015 as the 2016Q1 vote? I'm a bit confused. $\endgroup$
    – Khale_Kitha
    Mar 30, 2016 at 14:18
  • $\begingroup$ @Khale_Kitha I think that was a typo. We are voting on posts that were made between January 1 and March 31, 2016. $\endgroup$
    – GentlePurpleRain
    Mar 30, 2016 at 14:32
  • $\begingroup$ Okay - thanks for the clarification. $\endgroup$
    – Khale_Kitha
    Mar 30, 2016 at 14:34

5 Answers 5

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This is important. I need you to listen…

by Alconja

A wonderful construction that mixes visual elements with crossword clues, Vignere keys, ambigrams, and many other ideas. The puzzle is multi-layered and extremely difficult, but still the solution is clear and well-motivated. Furthermore, @Deusovi's solution to this puzzle should be a worthy nominee for the best-solution award of 2016/Q1.

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  • $\begingroup$ Yes, that's indeed a wonderful puzzle. Getting my vote this turn. $\endgroup$
    – BmyGuest
    Mar 31, 2016 at 12:27
  • $\begingroup$ Wow! That is impressive. Thanks for nominating it here - I would have missed it otherwise. $\endgroup$
    – A E
    Apr 7, 2016 at 18:52
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    $\begingroup$ @AE I think this is the true purpose of the best of series - creating a collection of "not to be missed" puzzles from that time-period. $\endgroup$
    – BmyGuest
    Apr 8, 2016 at 8:15
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Batman and the piano

by Khale_Kitha

A well-designed multi-layered puzzle with a pleasant visual aspect that requires a lot of work, but is rewarding.

The setup and in-character response of the puzzle creator add to the enjoyment.

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You've Probably Seen Me Naked

by GentlePurpleRain

Very well written. Every sentence had different answers and no other answer could be as beautiful as the intended answers. It was enjoyable even to see the puzzle getting solved.

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Jump to the 13th dimension

by BmyGuest

Detailed and well put together (almost) purely visual puzzle. Initially seems impenetrable, but has enough subtle clues amongst the red herrings to draw you towards the appropriate threads to pull at, allowing you to unravel (pun intended) the solution.

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The Three Little Pigs are hiding something

by Volatility

An extremely clever and meticulously-constructed puzzle with layers of decryption required, but sufficiently clued to solve it easily (once the decryption methods have been figured out). Even the title is actually a hint to the solution, as well as the encryption method.

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