But the best I could see was 26.Qf3 Rxc2 27.Bxc2 Bxc2 giving me two pieces for a rook. No big whoop, but lately there have been some "mild" puzzles like this, so I accepted it as so.

I think you meant to say <Once the <Rook> is taken by either Rook or Queen, ...>, no?

Suppose our rook is taken by the white rook, i.e. 27.Rxf2. Then 27...Bxe4 28.Qxe4 Qxf2 (threatening ...Qf1#) 29.Qg2 Qxf4 (threat:...Qc1+ winning the knight) 30.Ne1 Qxe5 (and black has a winning endgame).

Ouch.

26...Rd2 was obvious, for 27.Qxd2 Bxe4+, and even 27.Qe1 Rd1! was not that hard. However, I missed 27.Qf3 Rxc2 28.Bxf5! as some others did.

I LOOKED at 27....Rf2 but thought it lost after 28.Qxf2, however, it seems that after 28....Bxe4+ 29.Kg1 Nxf4! the Black combo continues deadly, as the Queen is pinned, and 30.Qxb6 Nh3# is almost inevitable.

If I have a question, I turn to the computer (at least when <MostlyAverageJoe>, the computer master on this forum, is looking after other, more important responsibilities). In my chessforum (click on the <johnlspouge> link on my post to get there), there are detailed instructions on how to download freeware stronger than Kasparov.

Toga II 1.3.1 evaluated 25.Be4 Bxe4 as follows. (I always give the whole computer line, which is undependable near its end.)

[ply 17/57, time 05:00, value (to White) -0.53]

26.Qxe4 Ng7 27.Qe1 Nf5 28.Qc3 a5 29.Qe1 a4 30.Qc3 axb3 31.axb3 c5 32.Ne3 Nd4 33.Nd5 Qxb3 34.Qxb3 Nxb3 35.Rd1 Nd4 36.Rb1 Rb8

Generally, one should consider -1.00 as a winning advantage for Black. So, to answer your question at last, the move 25...Bxe4 is good, creating "pull" for Black, but not good enough to force a win without further errors.

By most people's standards, such a line is insufficient to "solve" the puzzle.

Generally, my standard for a solution is to state the correct next move, e.g., 25...Rd2 for Black today, along with an analysis demonstrating that Black wins at least at least a P without compensation. Some people hate me for my long posts, however, perhaps with justification. Everyone has the ability to change their profile to "ignore" people, i.e., to omit their posts from the presentation, so to each his own here, literally.

Many here consider stating the correct move sufficient. (I call such posts "one-move wonders", because they are mere "puzzle solutions", teaching little one can use in a real chess game.)

In puzzles with several competing winning moves, if one move is clearly better, the solution should probably give the "best" move, but many would disagree. One even has the problem of distinguishing the quality of "good" moves. These murky waters of chessgames.com puzzles have not been fathomed adequately, and the wise do not try.

I hope this screed is helpful to you. As they say on Sesame Street, "Asking questions is a good way to find out things you want to know." Welcome aboard, <NitramBackwards>!