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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 fourth quarter ( October / November / December ) 2022?

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):

Algorithmically selected "best of":

Best by votes/views:

Meta-meta issues:

Q: Is this kind of thing allowed on SE?
A: Yes, Photography SE and Sci-Fi & Fantasy SE do something very similar.

Q: What's the point?
A1: To highlight and encourage good practice in a way that goes beyond upvotes.
A2: 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'.
A3: To prompt members to put forward their own reflections on what makes a high-quality puzzle.

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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 this concept and went and added a whole other dimension!

What starts off as a nonogram suddenly becomes - with the help of the rarely-used tag - not just one three-dimensional object, but two (or is it three??)! What makes it even better is an answer in which the solver fully engaged with the challenge and physically created the three-dimensional objects using paper (bought especially for the purpose, too!).

This puzzle showed real creativity and imagination when tackling Monthly Topic Challenge #5: On-and-onograms - ultimately producing something totally different to any of the other contributions, and one that will stay in the mind long after the challenge itself.

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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 whose work I was not previously familiar with. Seeing the solution explained made me feel like I was discovering a real gem of a puzzle...

The puzzle is well-presented, with great visuals and plenty for a solver to explore when trying to work out where to begin. The solution path itself is entirely concealed within the image, in a way that an inquisitive user can deduce in time, and as the hidden instructions are followed the puzzle's solution unfolds (quite literally...) with a series of exciting reveals!

Another great addition to the list of puzzles that are best solved by printing it out and holding it in your hands. Published on the 23rd day of the Advent Calendar, this one was well worth the wait!

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Release the "Q" ball by SlowMagic

It seems like some hard work was put into it (as well as a cool joke.)

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    $\begingroup$ Thanks for appreciating the joke! I debated about using this title for a double pun: "I" ball on the "Q" ball. $\endgroup$
    – SlowMagic
    Commented Jan 11, 2023 at 22:57

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