Before WPC 2023, I ran a Puzzle Getchu!, a contest themed on Ape Escape. I had intended to queue these puzzles for posting before WPC, but didn't have the time. Better late than never!
The ninth level in the game is Dexter's Island. I went with Aquapelago over something like Nurikabe (Islands in the Stream) or Shimaguni (Islands) or any other island themed puzzle, partly because I liked the rules, and partly because I wanted to highlight some lesser known types and this creation by Walker Anderson needed a spotlight (I made these before a puzzlink implementation!). As an added bonus, this would let me theme the puzzle in an extra way, by cluing an 11x11 with only 6 clues, for 6/11: the exact requirement.
But first, a simple example.
The contest puzzle I went with was the hardest of my three options, considering I also thought it was by far the best. It ended up being worth 15 points, which I think is very fair given how the start of the puzzle plays out.
My first other candidate is a fine puzzle, but it lacked anything really special in the layout or theming that made me want to use it. Still, it was good practice and gave me a bit more familiarity with the genre.
At some point afterwards, I stumbled into a legit opening deduction that I tried using in a 6 clue puzzle. It was never nice to resolve the rest, unfortunately, so I added a 7th clue in the middle and made it an 11. But that requires counting to 11, which is a pain, so I didn't really want to use this puzzle, either. Another good puzzle, but just not what I was looking for for the contest.
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