29
votes
Best puzzles of 2016 Q1 (January - March)?
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 ...
- 45.4k
24
votes
Best "Cryptic Clue Chat Chains" (CCCC) Questions
Note: I'm going to have to bend a few rules with this submission. For example, even though it's technically about a single clue, I'd have to at least mention many other clues for reasons that will be ...
- 18.6k
19
votes
Best puzzles of 2016 Q2 (April - June)?
You have prepared. You are determined. You approach the door
by Alconja
I was quite surprised that this question wasn't the first one posted here.
Such a well-done puzzle, both in the visual ...
- 25.7k
18
votes
Best puzzles of 2015 Q3 (July - September)?
A short, brutal riddle by Roland
Currently top voted for a reason, this riddle's ironic approach makes for a unique word puzzle and a delightful revelation. At five lines and with each leading to a ...
- 1,672
18
votes
Best puzzles of 2017 Q3 (July - September)?
A puzzle in 140 characters by stacksfiller
This puzzle ticks all the boxes that a good multipart/meta puzzle should:
Individually interesting sub-parts - in this puzzle there are many micro-puzzles, ...
- 37.1k
18
votes
Best puzzles of 2019 Q2 (April - June)?
How can this shape perfectly cover a cube? by plasticinsect
Because, of course, how the heck can this shape perfectly cover a cube??!!
It also gets a bonus point with the marvelous answer by Deusovi ...
- 34k
17
votes
Best puzzles of 2016 Q2 (April - June)?
The Rube Wordberg Machine
by Alconja
This puzzle combines a very pleasing visual way of being presented with a good puzzle requiring observation as well as deduction skills and a shot of creativity to ...
- 18.1k
17
votes
Best "Cryptic Clue Chat Chains" (CCCC) Questions
It makes wet god - disgusting! (6) — Deusovi
Explanation
Description
- 15.1k
16
votes
Puzzle Of The Year 2015!
Others may differ with me, but IMO it does not seem right to compare all puzzles together.
For example, how does one compare a complicated number-theory problem with an interesting word puzzle or ...
- 6,936
16
votes
Best puzzles of 2015 Q3 (July - September)?
An overheard gang meeting, a double agent, and a murder by Alconja
A brilliant enigmatic puzzle. First of all, it is really well-written and quite funny. It has a sense of mystery. Hints are well-...
- 4,010
16
votes
Best puzzles of 2022 Q4 (October - December)?
A Weapon or a Toy? by ACB
Sometimes a puzzle that looks like one thing turns out to be another (a crossword that's actually a Sudoku, a quiz that's actually a connecting wall...) - this puzzle took ...
- 133k
16
votes
Best puzzles of 2022 Q4 (October - December)?
PSE Advent Calendar 2022 (Day 23): Christmas Classifieds by Spencer Fleming
For me, this was the highlight of 2022's Puzzling Advent Calendar - 2022 - a creative and unique contribution from a user ...
- 133k
15
votes
Best puzzles of 2016 Q3 (July - September)?
Riddled and Dismembered
by Hugh Meyers
This one is a perfect example of what a quality riddle looks like. Here are the key reasons for nominating this puzzle:
The first reason is, of course, the ...
- 18.6k
15
votes
Best "Cryptic Clue Chat Chains" (CCCC) Questions
Mistake Gates for Jobs? (7) — Sp3000
Explanation
Description
- 18.6k
14
votes
Best puzzles of 2019 Q3 (July - September)?
Magic Maze Puzzle, by boboquack
I would like to nominate this puzzle (Sep 2019), which gave me one of the best feelings of a job well done when I finally solved it! The puzzle itself is DIFFICULT, and ...
- 133k
13
votes
Best puzzles of 2016 Q4 (October - December)?
Re-Re-ReCaptcha
by Dan Russell
Every part of this puzzle was wonderful. The humor in the story, the high-quality presentation, the clues themselves, the trick behind putting the clues together, and ...
DeusoviMod
- 145k
13
votes
Best puzzles of 2019 Q1 (January - March)?
A Missing Symbol for This Logo by athin
This was a very clever and amazingly creative puzzle by athin. Also, it was one of the first puzzles I saw on joining this site, and was indeed the best first ...
- 1,107
12
votes
Puzzle Of The Year 2015!
The Sands of Time by Tryth
A very unique visual puzzle that was well outside of the beaten path for PuzzlingSE - it had us all scratching our heads for quite a while, the only gripe I had with it was ...
- 3,144
12
votes
Best "Cryptic Clue Chat Chains" (CCCC) Questions
000-ish (5) — Deusovi
Explanation
Description
- 18.6k
12
votes
Best puzzles of 2018 Q2 (April - June)?
Recognizing a Metapuzzle by Deusovi
I was of two minds on whether to nominate this one or not, but in the end, I decided I couldn't allow this much effort and puzzle density to go unrecognised. ...
- 37.1k
12
votes
Best puzzles of 2022 Q2 (April - June)
I got ninety-nine problems - so here's another one! by Stiv
Lets get one underway, shall we?...
This massive meta-puzzle to celebrate Stiv's 100th puzzle on this site is something we should remember. ...
- 2,559
11
votes
Best puzzles of 2016 Q3 (July - September)?
The brain-curdling eldritch horrors and the third dimension
by Avigrail
This is a type of puzzle I've never seen on PSE before. On the face of it, it's remarkably physical: given a 3D printer, one ...
- 116k
11
votes
Best puzzles of 2016 Q3 (July - September)?
REJBÄS - an unfinished flat-pack puzzle
by Alconja
Not nominated yet? Well, I have to then. And this is not only because I whole-heartedly agree with the comment from IAmInPls
This puzzle blew ...
- 18.1k
11
votes
Best puzzles of 2018 Q1 (January - March)?
A mysterious benefactor by Keelhaul
A highly-compact but complex puzzle, with several successive steps tightly packed together. As I peeled back the layers, I was seriously impressed by how Keelhaul ...
- 8,019
11
votes
Best puzzles of 2018 Q1 (January - March)?
Unintelligible Batch of Wingdinglish by "LatchArcheryLeader"
I liked this puzzle for several reasons -- the first being the completely unexpected theme from the original unassuming ...
- 21.6k
11
votes
Best puzzles of 2018 Q2 (April - June)?
A Lazy Breakfast by TwoBitOperation
To contrast my other nomination, this puzzle is the very epitome of compact. In all of four sentences, we are provided with enough information to identify nearly ...
- 37.1k
10
votes
Best puzzles of 2017 Q1 (January - March)?
Miniature Puzzle by stacksfiller
So much content was packed into a tiny image here, and the whole thing was immensely satisfying to solve. If you have time and don't mind opening up your image editor ...
DeusoviMod
- 145k
10
votes
Best puzzles of 2017 Q4 (October - December)?
Japanese Fusion Alphabet Soup by Alconja
Obviously, it's a huge repository of good quality cryptic clues, which is always nice. Other than that, this puzzle doesn't look very impressive at a first ...
- 21.6k
9
votes
Best puzzles of 2016 Q3 (July - September)?
The Persistence Of Memory
by Deusovi
It's hard to come up with simple yet challenging puzzle mechanics, but I think Deusovi succeeded nicely with this one. Clean and pleasing visual presentation (...
- 37.1k
9
votes
Best puzzles of 2016 Q4 (October - December)?
I'm breaking the rules a little because this is technically not a "puzzle", but I'm choosing to interpret the spirit of the quarterlies as best "post"...
Cryptic Clue Guide
by ...
- 37.1k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible