Missed this, Circle Pad Pro LL/XL exists now.

[A Black Falcon]

Those things I said "clued me in" to something to solve. From there, I did solve those problems. You're perfectly fine saying the hints weren't direct enough, and there we may just disagree (perhaps there should have been a telepathic glyph in the dungeon for Sahasrala to remind you of that secret in a cave south of Lake Hylia), but unless you are arguing that I did NOT actually solve those puzzles the way I said I did, then yes, they WERE clues.

If the Ice Rod was required at the bottom of that dungeon, it should have been required at the entrance too. And there should have been a clue to where it is, if you didn't have it yet. Letting you get to the end of a dungeon, only to learn that you need some item or other you don't have and you'll have to leave and completely redo the dungeon, is absolutely absurd.

It seems I got things confused from your description. It wasn't the explosive medallion, but the freezing "ether" medallion you needed to open the door in Misery Mire.

Right, the Medallions... weren't several of them hidden, with no clues? And one was off in Death Mountain, in an inaccessible location you're only ever going to pass by once, and is VERY easy to miss since it's past the dungeon entrance, and you'd only be there for the dungeon.

Again, I'd say I figured it out well enough, but it does take a desire to explore the areas you visit instead of just plowing on through from one "objective" to the next.

I'd be interested in exploring everything if, like in LA, you were actually revealing map squares as you explore, but LttP isn't as good a game as that one, and doesn't have a great map like LA does either, so it makes me less likely to want to explore every corner of the world...