Pedagogic niceties in the treatment of unconventional thermodynamic cycles, especially those involving (negatively sloping) diagonal linear transitions in aP/Vstate diagram and/or those implying supposedly superefficient heat‐engine operation, are discussed as a means of stimulating student interest and comprehension, as well as promoting fresh insights, correcting erroneous notions, and provoking further enquiry. In particular, a novel (ostensibly all‐adiabatic) engine usingtwoidealgasesof mutually differing atomicities as working substance is analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Emphasis is placed on the crucial role of thesecondlaw of thermodynamics in a determination of heat‐engine operation.