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As one of the hosts, my entry is out of contest, made just for the heck of it.
The USE IT ALL approach:

Spoiler

EXAMINE WELL
There's simply no way you could climb down there.
EXAMINE ROPE
It's old and rotten. Tying knots and climbing down that way seems impossible.
CALL FOR HELP
The owl looks annoyed at you, then goes back to sleep. The frog winks his eyes and pouts his lips. The sheep and the goat both say «Baaa!», then «Jinx!», then «Jinx again». The pig ignores you in a very piglike fashion.
TALK TO SHEEP
The sheep will have you know she is a magic sheep and has no interest in helping you. Unless there is something in it for her.
TALK TO GOAT
The little goat says that he's looking for his brothers.
TELL GOAT HIS BROTHERS ARE IN THE WELL
The little goat says they would be too heavy to scale the small stones of the crumbling wall of the well.
TELL GOAT HIS BROTHERS SAID HE SHOULD GET THE BALL FOR THE NICE PRINCESS
The little goat says he will only listen to his brothers, not someone who claims to know them.
USE KNIFE ON SHEEP
The magic sheep easily evades you, mocking your little garter-knife.
OFFER APPLE TO SHEEP
The sheep eagerly takes a bite, agrees to help you, then turns greenish in the face and keels over.
USE KNIFE ON SHEEP
You are no murderer, but that wool could come in handy. Unfortunately, the knife cannot cut the magic wool.
EXAMINE SWORD IN STONE
There's a plaque, saying «Magic sword, standard model ex caliber 2. Do not remove. In case of emergency, say your prayers.»
SAY YOUR PRAYERS
Nice try.
PULL SWORD
It won't budge. I guess you are not meant to be king.
MOVE SHEEP OVER TO THE SWORD
It's too heavy for your willowy frame.
USE KNIFE ON CLOTHES
You get cloth strips.
TIE STRIPS TO SHEEP
USE STRIPS WITH STONE (NOT THE SWORD!)
USE STRIPS WITH PIG
You have made a sort of pulley. The pig, lost in his own thoughts, does not notice that you have harnessed him. If you could only make him move in the right direction, he will pull on the makeshift rope and move the sheep towards the sword in the stone.
TELL PIG TO GO
The pig ignores you and keeps on gathering straw.
SCARE PIG
The pig remains utterly unscared.
SHOVE PIG
Your willowy frame does not lend itself to this type of action.
TALK TO PIG
Lengthy conversation that sheds light on the pig's life and motivation. During this, you learn that he and his brothers are building houses to protect themselves from the fearsome wolf. It also becomes apparant that his knowledge of said wolf is rather limited.
EXAMINE WAGON. EXAMINE INSTRUMENTS.
Most of the instruments are beyond repair, but there is a broken flute that draws your attention. Obtained flute parts.
EXAMINE SKELETON
Poor guy. You remind yourself not to eat that type of mushroom anytime soon. He appears to have a ring on his finger. The teeth in the skull glitters in the sun.
TAKE RING
EXAMINE RING
The ring seems to have no magic powers, unfortunately. But maybe it could be of some other use?
USE RING WITH FLUTE PARTS
Amazing! The ring fits exactly where the flute is broken, fixing it!
EXAMINE HOLE IN THE GROUND
You recognize the tracks as fox tracks. They look fresh.
CALL FOX/TALK TO HOLE
This fails rather unspectacularly.
BLOW FLUTE INTO HOLE
You play a catchy tune (What does the Fox say?) that scares the fox out of the hole. He runs around for a bit.
Cut scene. The pig is startled by the fox, first thinking it is the wolf. You add some «well known facts» about wolves, like their long, bushy tail or orange tint, but then the pig notices that the tracks are wrong (lacking HUGE CLAWS), the WOLF HOWL is lacking and it's not all that SCARY. The fox runs into the wagon and out again, brushing aside a box, exposing a broken ACCORDION. The fox returns into the hole. The pig does not move and gets back to straw gathering.
TAKE ACCORDION. EXAMINE ACCORDION
There is a hole and some buttons are missing.
USE NEEDLE AND THREAD ON ACCORDION (Maybe cutting off more silk from your dress first.)
The hole is fixed.
USE KNIFE ON SKULL
Obtained teeth.
USE TEETH ON ACCORDION
You manage to make some makeshift buttons.
CUT CORSETRY WITH KNIFE
Obtained spikes.
USE SPIKES WITH  TRACKS
The tracks now look suitably wolfish.
BLOW FLUTE INTO HOLE
The fox runs out again. The pig notices the new tracks, remarking on the claw size. But it is not SCARY or HOWLING.
While the fox animation is running, you quickly
PLAY ACCORDION
The owl is startled awake and flaps about for a while. The pig says that he understands that this animal must be SCARY in order to frighten the tough old owl in such a manner. But without HOWLING, it cannot be the wolf.
While the fox and owl are still animating, you even quicker
HOWL INTO WELL
The echo makes it an impressive sound. The pig is now convinced that the fox is the wolf and starts running, dragging the strips connected to the sheep after him. Using the sword stone as a pulley, the sheep is moved to the sword in the stone. Eventually, the fox goes back into the hole, the owl settles down in its nest and goes back to sleep, and the pig uneasily returns to his straws.
PUSH SHEEP AGAINST SWORD IN THE STONE
Obtained wool.
USE NEEDLE AND THREAD WITH WOOL AND YOURSELF
You now look kind of wooly.
TALK TO GOAT
He thinks you are his brother until he notices that you have no horns.
USE GARTER WITH TIARA AND SPIKES
You are now horny, so to speak.
TALK TO GOAT
He thinks you are his brother and is persuaded to climb down the well, which he does, easily like a mountain goat (which he is), grabbing the golden ball for you.

End scene: You walk away with the golden ball when the pig comes running with his finished load of straw. In passing, he thanks you for saving him from the wolf and plants a huge, sloppy kiss directly on your face. You swear. The frog laughs so hard it falls into the well. The end.

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[Trippy]

Three fun entries this month! Here are my thoughts.

Trippy by jwalt:

Spoiler

I have a lot of fun following this series. They need to be added to the database! Come on, jwalt! This time around, there was both branching and some puzzles. I'm already looking forward to seeing what happens next. The strong point is the humour, and my favourite joke was Kenny's line.

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A Doll in a Dream by Blondbraid:

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Beautiful art, nice story with a point to it, and puzzles/tasks given somewhat philosophical meaning. Not especially hard, but thoughtful.

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Apfelmännchen by cat:

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Shortest, but very funny, if you like nerdy math jokes. Which I do. I liked the same joke as the Captain, and also laughed at the Purple Tentacle reference.

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I voted for

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A Doll in a Dream.

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Game has two specific endings, but one of the endings has enough of a "flaw" that it would probably qualify as a third ending.

D'oh! Redownloading!

Probably not worth the effort, unless you're into getting away with murder; it has the same ending, more or less.

I'm uncertain what the third ending is, or if I've achieved it or not. 

Spoiler

I have given the guru both pies, of course, which must be the specific endings. I've also given him the vegetarian pie after murdering poor Ponch. Is that the flawed ending? I also tried to reach the end of the vegetarian path without learning the secrets of the orbs, but that looks impossible.

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[everything]

It seems to me that the PDCs both for TSOMI and (to a somewhat lesser extent) MI2 Act II are quite bushy and complex.

I don't disagree. So they would be wide, not long, if that makes any sense. When I played Daniele Spadoni's fan games, I noticed that he often only has implemented the necessary tasks to complete a puzzle, whereas the originals have answers to everything. He often uses the same structure, offering a different solution to familiar puzzles, but in comparison, the play time will be a lot shorter.

Still, I seem to remember being surprised by how short an act in MI2 was, when I happened to stumble upon the correct solution almost immediately. (A maze of some sort, I think?) I haven't actually studied the charts, though.

If the game is fairly linear, this isn't always obvious to the player. It looks like most of the locations will be open for the player, so they will encounter a lot of problems and get to think about them, even if they can't solve them yet. Don't worry too much about linearity for your first game.

Also, if you look at what is actually needed in order to progress through an act of say, Monkey Island, it's probably a lot less than it feels like for the player. The player will spend time exploring, examining things, talking to npcs and so on. The puzzle dependency chart is not likely to show how the player's game will be like, as most players will need a bit of trial and error before reaching every goal.

Another approach: Maybe it's easier for you to think of a puzzle you want to include? Then design that puzzle, and afterwards ask yourself what type of story or world it fits into.

Thanks to everyone who read the thread and those who voted, not just those who voted for me. Let's keep this one alive, folks. It's a fun contest!

Tunnel Vision:

Spoiler

I think my favourites from this game is lassoing a passing pole, and the whole of the last puzzle where the player needs to stop the train. I liked that several items could be used in different spots, but I needed to come up with a combination where everything worked simultanously. Usually an item will only fit in one spot - not so in this game!

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Sorrow of a Furry Father:

Spoiler

I liked the maze where I had to decipher clues in a poem before finding the hidden room. I also liked making the foodstuffs placed in the maze taste right.

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Trapped on the Balcony:

Spoiler

It's cool how the game makes you forget that you are carrying around a pair of pants, presumably looking for a person in need of clothing. Admittedly, this is a bit of "finding a blue key/keycard before finding a blue door". But then the janitor guy exposes himself (hmm) in a very funny way, and him needing pants turns out to be the very reason he's still there, and the explanation ties into the sloppy work he's done. This helps connect the locations and items, integrating them into the story. And of course, the pants need to be cleaned, too. After all that, I've completely forgotten about that "I happen to carry an extra pair of pants" feeling. (It was also funny in a meta-way to see his walk, and how it was explained that no extra walkcycle was needed.)

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"What has a nose and is attached to the ceiling?"   

Rodney, the magnetic rodent.    (See the puzzle-making contest for an explanation to that one.)

On the other hand, it usually smells (of smoke) when the fire alarm goes off 

In fairness it's not the fire alarm itself that smells though 

In a sense it does, because it is able to detect smoke, just like a nose.

I'm going to cherish this statement for all time.  In fact, I now want a t-shirt with the statement "just like a nose" and let people be bewildered.

[Shards of God]

I wish I could remember a specific puzzle to contribute to this thread! There was definitely one in Metro City that I thought was really nice, but I can't for the life of me remember the details.

If it's an object-based puzzle it might be that one in that abandoned room where you get the emp mine at the end of it? 

Or perhaps opening the door in the basement underneath Alexander's house? Metro City spoiler:

Spoiler

This one had two things going for it. There is the nice thing that the player made this problem by grabbing the wires to solve another puzzle, which shows consequences - always cool. And secondly, there is great re-use of items. The player may think that the futuristic drill is now junk, and the hacking tool is very useful, yet in this situation, it's reversed. Add the visual clue with wires sticking out of the hacking tool, and there you have a very satisfying puzzle.

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Trapped on the Balcony is one huge streak of enjoyable puzzles, but I particularly liked

Spoiler

the one where you forge the third token using the fresh cement on the roof. It felt like the several elements of this puzzle had to be sourced from all over the game, which was really cool.

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I have to second this (actually I was about to use it as an example). That whole puzzle was one of those that made me understand better how object-based puzzles can work.

Agreed. I liked that

Spoiler

we got to know why the cement was there in the first place, giving extra character development to the janitor npc. And to the player character as well, because she recognizes this as sloppy work.

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Here's another one for me (simpler can be more complicated )
Shards of God - Getting all four lamp-levers down

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I've been looking so hard to find that 4th object or fruit to get that last lever down when obviously I didn't have to. Smart. 

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This one is also great. And after solving it, the game will do it automatically the next time, avoiding any unnecessary frustration. Textbook game design.

The hacking puzzle was hard, not too hard.  I don't think you should consider that an error of judgment on your part, the creators will know the ins and outs and will become pros of their own games.  I mean, @Tomags can beat his game Mr Tijerakis at hard levels, for crying out loud. In fact, I think the progression was very nicely balanced.

I tried different strategies (in spoilers, as it may not be all that interesting, or people may want to  figure it out themselves).

Spoiler

At first, I tried to click the icons in the order they appeared. After a while, I discovered what the hand did, and even later that the icons could be clicked in any order. Still, I wasn't fast enough. So I tried simply clicking in a circle as fast as I could without even looking at the code, then discovered that I was penalized for doing multiple errors, but not until I had tried a lot of times. In the end, I guess it came down to learning where some of the icons were in order to be fast enough.

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A bomb without a nose. 

I'll try to start this ball rolling.

Spoilers forthcoming.

Metro City - while investigating Alexander's apartment.

Spoiler

I really liked how the police officer found the secret passage. You have to notice a mark in the floor and realize a cupboard has been moved (in front of the secret door). Further, you need to ask for help to move it. This isn't a hard puzzle, but it felt right - like something an investigator could notice in a real case. Bringing in the other officer made it even more real, like we were a team. This helps the immersion, and the other officer becomes "alive".

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The Sleeping Castle - finding the way inside the castle.

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Elentigirl's puzzles often have revolving cylinders or cogs intertwining. I liked that this time it was on a big scale. Turning the wheel shifts which exits are available, and I had to picture how this worked to set it up right. There was also a poster that showed the basic layout, but it had to be interpreted in order to understand it. I got this great aha!-feeling when I suddenly got it and saw it pictured in my mind.

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Twine is very easy to use for tree structures or for making flow charts/dependency charts.

I tend to use pen and paper, though. 

Game has two specific endings, but one of the endings has enough of a "flaw" that it would probably qualify as a third ending.

D'oh! Redownloading!

I revisited this one to see if I could finish it before the AGS award voting, and after much trial and retrial, I finally beat that last door hacking mini-game and made it to the end. That was hard!

I'll repeat my praise from the GIP thread: the graphics and animation are stunning, and the city now feels alive and vibrant. All those background animations and ambient sounds pay off big time, making this a highly atmospheric piece. If anything, I regret not nominating it for best audio/music as well as the two categories I did nominate it for. Did you make the music yourself, too? It's a great fit for the mood!

I think the most astonishing thing about this game is that, after playing AGS-made games for... I dunno, over two decades now I think! - this genuinely feels like nothing I've every played before.

Couldn't agree more. It stands out like that. (Does feel like Blade Runner, though, which is intentional.)

The mini-games are very cool. I am not very good with those, and needed a lot of attempts to prevail at the hacking games. The fights went all right, even though I just barely survived every time. I'm thankful they weren't harder!

I think the decision to split the game in two parts made sense, even though that meant that

Spoiler

the next interaction with the quarreling brothers

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will have to wait for the next game. I'm really impressed by your game. Congratulations, and best of luck in the upcoming awards. I'll eagerly await the next chapter in this story. I'm on board for the ride.

Another riddle on a similar note:
What do you call bad breath that is sacred?

Holytosis or hallowtosis.
(From eating too much manna?)

The Best Puzzles award may be water under the bridge, but that doesn't mean we can't have a thread to discuss it. The question is simply: What puzzles in AGS games released in 2023 did you like? Why did you like them?

Please make the thread user-friendly with well marked spoilers, for instance like this:
The Sleeping Castle:

Spoiler

And something about it in here.

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Hopefully, this may give devs some feedback on what type of puzzles work well, and the players a chance to discuss and (dis)agree.

(In addition, I could imagine similar threads for the current year could be useful if we started them now and run them all year. It may be helpful when the year is over and we try to remember what games we liked months back and a help for nominating to the AGS awards. If the interest for such threads is there, of course.)

Voted.