First off I need to apologize for dropping out of twisty puzzles for the past half of the year and taking puzzle of the month with me. I think it would be pointless to go back and vote on the months I missed but since the new year just started why not atleast keep this tradition going. However hear are links to the past months up to August to help you remember all the great puzzles this year. Recent months should still be in your memory

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Unlike last year we do not have any list to chose from so we must rely on memory. Please make a gold, silver, and bronze vote for your top three puzzles of the year. Gold is 3 points, silver is 2, and bronze is 1. They can be any puzzle that was made by a member of our forum within 2011 and I think voting for multiple puzzles by the same designer should be ok. At the end of the month I'll count them all up and announce the winner and runner ups.

With that said, let the voting begin!

Also if no one objects, I plan to start up puzzle of the month again this year.

Gold - Multi-Dodecahedron by TomZ
Silver - Gear Pyraminx by Timur
Bronze - Flower Copter by Arvinshu

Honorable mention: Copter 3x3 by Will_57

I will just look at those I have got

Gold = TomZ's Multidodecahedron
Silver= TomZ's Master FTO
Bronze = Eric Vergo's Elite Skewb

Well I don't know much puzzles so my 3 puzzle of the year would be those puzzle I know only.

Gold: Multi Dodecahedron by TomZ
Silver: Flower Copter by arvinshu
Bronze: Megaminx Barrel by AJ (I'm not so sure if this one is a this year's puzzle but I got it this year so...)

Gold - Ryan's Skiamond (absolutely beautiful. A fantastic puzzle).
Silver - Tom's MultiDodecahedron (well, it's a MultiDodecahedron. It's obviously going to be on the list).
Bronze - Eric's Rex Skewb (I ordered this on New Year's Eve because it looks like it is a phenomenal puzzle. I feel that the Rex Skewb has the perfect balance between aesthetics and difficulty).

Honourable mention - Timur's Master Gear Pyraminx (looks like it is one of the few really challenging Gear puzzles out there).

Gold - Multi-Dodecahedron by TomZ (Epic puzzle)
Silver - Gear Pyraminx by Timur (Incredible Puzzle)
Bronze - Dumbbell Cube by Oskar (Unique Rubik's Cube variation)

HM - grigorusha Elemental Cube (World's smallest Rubik's Cube)
HM - Grigr's Fibik's Cube / Trivial Fisher Cube (surprised puzzle)
HM - Gingervergo's Deceptiminx (sudden puzle)

Gold: Multidodecahedron
Silver: Flower Copter
Bronze: Big Kahuna

Honorable Mention: Luke's awesomeness

Before we do this, I find it necessary to get the lists of previous months. No need to revote, but it's very tedius to find additional puzzles. I propose we delay the Puzzle of the Year until all the lists have been obtained.

If I must make these lists, then I will. Please wait.

Done for January through August, the rest should still be fresh in memory unless someone wants to add them.

I am already working on them. Done with September and October, working on November.

Fresh in memory? No. There are several puzzles that don't even have *any* replies that I find very spectacular. I urge everyone to wait and see the lists first, then vote. Unless one has had the job Steveo, you, and I have, that one person sees probably 10% of the new puzzles, if that.

Gold: Over the top 17x17x17 by Oskar (how come nobody mentions it? Think of the record and the impact, it has to be Gold.)
Silver: Multi-Dodecahedron by TomZ
Bronze: Constellation Six by Timur

You find them spectacular. Personally I do not think the lists are necessary as the 'spectacular' puzzles deserving of POTY will stick in people's minds.

You must be forgetting that it's all subjective when it comes to voting on you favorite puzzle.

EDIT:
There, done. Now, was that really so hard to wait for?

Gold: Multidodecahedron
Silver: 17x17x17
Bronze: Doctor Skewb

Gold: Ryan's Skiamond
Silver: Eric's Deceptiminx
Bronze: Greg's Prisminx Crystal


HM's: Eric's Compound Crystal
Eric's Bram's Brick
Eric's Royal Pentultimate

Gold: Luke's AWESOMENESS
Silver: Greg's MB + Flopy Hybrid
Bronze: PuzzleMaster6262's 48 Cube V7

Honorable Mention: Multi Dec, make that the Mixup Cube instead

Gold: Over the Top 17x17x17
Silver: Master Gear Pyraminx
Bronze: Hexagonish Block

HM: BermudaMinx

First two easy-

Gold- 17x17x17
Silver - Examinx
Bronze- 4Cubes (sorry, but I love this puzzle)

Suggestion for next year- two categories-
1. 3d printed / cast from 3d prints
2. Hand made / cast but no printing involved

Gold: Multidodecahedron by TomZ.
Silver: Copter 3x3x3 by Will_57.
Bronze: Master Heximate by pirsquared.

If people like my idea I think this year we should set it up like a sport and have divisions and eliminations and such to better balance things between type of puzzle and when the puzzle was published. Way to many votes are of puzzles late in the year for it to be fair.

Gold- 4-Cubes
Silver- Over the Top
Bronze- Examinx


Honorable Mention: Rainbow Mirrorborg. These never seize to amaze me.

Looking through the lists, I have decided:

Gold: Big Kahuna
Silver: Shim's Skyglobe
Bronze: David Pitcher's Rhombic 18.

Honorable mentions: Multidodeca, Celticube, Ice-9.

gold- 17x17x17
silver- Fractured Madness (simple and unique )
bronze- multidodecahedron (extremely beautiful but too hard to solve)
There are soo many to choose from! I wish I could give metals to everyone!

Gold: Oskar's 17 x 17
Silver: TomZ's 4x5x6
Bronze: Gear Minx

HM: Multidodecohedron, Doors 4x4x7, 9x9x1(Royal Floppy), and to everyone else who made any fantastic puzzles.

I would have voted for "The Big Kahuna" if it had been finished. Sorry Eitan.

Gold: Ice-9 by David Pitcher.
Silver: Shim's Skyglobe by Timur
Bronze: Eric Vergo's Compound Crystal by gingervergo

And I like the suggestions of Tony Fisher (two have two "divisions") and PuzzleMaster6262 ("make it like a sport").
For my vote I looked up all the past twelve "puzzle of the months"-threads and then distilled the above three out of 36.
Andreas

I would say
Gold : Tom Z multidodecahedron
Silver : Gingervergo's Deceptiminx
Bronze : Muffet's Master Tutt V2

Gold: Compound Crystal by gingervergo
Silver: Celtic Cube by pirsquared
Bronze: Skyglobe by Timur

Quite hard. I own a couple of all those amazing couples made last year. But I don't know if it improves or complicates the choice.
There are only three to mention and so many people made beautiful puzzles. So, guys, even if you aren't mentioned in any of the votes, don't be sad. Each puzzle you made by yourself means something special to you and you can really be proud of it. Only you know, how much time, thoughts and work you spent on it. I am just a collector, sometimes stickering a puzzle or assembling a Shapeways 3D print. But I have respect for any complex or simple custom work.

Enough words, here are my votes:
(1) Oskar's 5x5x5 Mixup Cube
An extremely complex puzzle, both internal mechanism and solution. And it twists very well!

(2) RFLo9Puzzles's Curvy Copter HD
A perfect, handmade shapemod. Fantastic craftsmanship.

(3) TomZ's SuperX
If you have a look at the history, you'll see, that the original patent was from 1982! This puzzle idea was invented nearly 30 years ago and it
took until now, that Tom found a new mechanism for the first really working puzzle without magnets.



I second this. It was also my first thought to prefer hand made puzzles in the nomination to emphasize the craftsmanship, but too many puzzles with amazing mechanisms had been made and it would be unfair to degrade the brainwork on them.
@Tony: to which category do the '4Cubes' belong?

1. Flower copter (first ever combo edge/corner turning puzzle)
2. Multi dodecahedron (spectacular design)
3. 17x17x17 (breakthrough on higher order cubes, the mech allows even higher order ... )

My five cents!

For this amazing year a rating competition like this seems a bit unfair and random

Per

Gold: Flower Copter
Silver: Decepteminx
Bronze: [removed] [Admin: KO puzzles are not allowed as "puzzle of year"]

Honorable mention: Super X

Gold: Multidodecahedron
Silver: Flower Copter
Bronze: Deceptiminx

Gold- 17x17x17. Come on now, it's the highest order cube in existence by a long shot, has a place in the Guinness Book of World Records, hundreds of thousands of YouTube hits, and costs $1600 to own. In my opinion, this is by far the most epic puzzle of 2011.

Silver- Multidodecahedron. This was very, very close to getting my top vote, because I love how it combines the solving properties of the face turning dodecahedron. Mechanically, however, I thought the 17x17 was a much greater achievement, since the Multidodecahedron is really a modified Master Pentultimate. Still, I love the concept, and the fact that it's on Shapeways for such an affordable price makes it even better.

Bronze- Examinx. I'm really, really surprised so few people have put this on their lists. The gigaminx, teraminx and petaminx each pushed the boundaries of what was possible to be designed at the times they were created. While there are hundreds of new and incredible puzzles this year, the examinx is no exception. Imagine what cubers three or four years ago would have said about an 11x11 cube, never mind a dodecahedron. It's a shame there was never a video or a stickering, though; it may have warranted a top spot for me.

Not as incredible as 2010 was, but 2011 was still a fantastic year for puzzles. Here's to an even more amazing 2012!

No.1 - The masters were printed and parts cast from those. Printed parts however were used directly for the core. You can only really judge these kind of things on the idea and design. Shapeways does the physical stuff.