So, it looks like we're close to agreement on the selection of 32 talismans, which I'll repost here for the convenience of having them all in one post:
Get a little extra help: Save 100% with only builders (reverting the level to have 10 builders)
Keep your hair on, Mr Lemming: Save 100% with no builders
A Beast of a level: Save 100% with 2 of each skill
Lemmings in the attic: Solve with no builders
The Crankshaft: Save 100% with no builders
Turn around, young lemmings: Save 100%
A Spot of Bother: Save 100% with no builders
DON'T PANIC: Save 100%
Perseverance: Solve with no diggers
Cascade: Save 100%
And then there were four: Save 100% in 2 minutes
LEMTRIS: Save 100% with no bashers
Flow Control: Save 14/21 or more
KEEP ON TRUCKING: Save 100%
Postcard from Lemmingland: Solve with no floater
ONWARD AND UPWARD: Save 37/40
I have a cunning plan: Solve with no builders
Have a nice day: Solve with 5 builders
Across the Gap: Solve with 1 builder
ROCKY ROAD: Save 100%
The Lemming Funhouse: Save 100%
If at first you don't succeed...: Save 100% with 1 basher
Upside-down World: Save 100%
Come on over to my place: Solve with 1 builder
Poles Apart: Save 100%
It's hero time: Solve with no climber
Which one are you trying to get?: Solve with no floaters
Creature Discomforts: Save 100%
Scaling the Heights: Save 100%
The Steel Mines of Kessel: Solve with no blockers
The Great Lemming Caper: Solve with no blockers
Final impediment: Solve with no bashers or diggers
(By the way, Nepster mentioned in chat that he's too busy working on the new-formats version to give feedback on talismans.)
Looking through the list, I feel that there are a lot more medium (silver-worthy) than particularly easy or particularly hard talismans, so I don't think we'll go with either namida's 5:3:2 ratio or an even distribution. I'd rather like to have exactly 8, 16, 8 for the neat numbers, but I won't be too dogmatic about it.
Since we've started on selecting gold talismans, let's finish that off first. So far, between my list and Nessy's, we have seven:
Cascade: Save 100%
Flow Control: Save at least 14/21
Come on over to my place: Solve with 1 builder
Creature Discomforts: Save 100%
The Steel Mines of Kessel: Solve with no blockers
Have a nice day: Solve with 5 builders
Final impediment: Solve with no bashers or diggers
If we want to go up to eight, I think these are the strongest candidates for the last one:
ROCKY ROAD: Save 100%. This would be my pick. It turns out that to save 100%, you have to optimise over the whole level, carefully selecting which skills to use in each part so as to have the skills you need left for other parts. It's a really hard and satisfying challenge. Nessy voted this bronze, but admitted in chat that he hadn't tried solving it himself, and underestimated the difficulty.
Keep your hair on, Mr Lemming: 100% no builders. Nessy (above) voted this gold, although I don't agree as it feels much easier than the other gold candidates. It's true that KYHO is a very easy level just to solve, so the talisman is a huge step above a normal solution, but perhaps that shouldn't be taken too heavily into consideration for levels at either extreme of the pack.
(Alternatively, if we change our minds and use the "100% builders and 1 floater only" talisman, this is
definitely gold-worthy.)
A Beast of a level: 100% 2 of each skill. Earlier in the thread, bsmith rated "any% 3 of each skill" as already silver-worthy, and "100% 2 of each skill" is an even harder version of this. Also, it's a lot harder than solving normally, given that it's a Fun level. Still, I'm not sure myself whether this is a gold-worthy challenge.
Any preferences between these three, or alternative proposals?