Solution: Cryptic Images
Answer: SETTLER
Authors: Shuxin Zhan, Dan Simon, Melissa Yuan
Artist: Shuxin Zhan
As the title suggests, this puzzle contains cryptics but with images instead of words. Teams must figure out how to place images from the image bank into the cryptics to form clues that contain both a "definition" and a "wordplay" part of a cryptic. An explanation of each cryptic can be found below.
| Image | Answer | Description of "Wordplay" | "Wordplay" |
|---|---|---|---|
 | MILL | Remove the start and end of EMILY + L | EMILY + L |
 | BRACKET | BR (Brazil) + CAKE anagrammed + T | BR + ACKE + T |
 | DARTBOARD | Right half of BART + BOAR in DAD | DA + BART + BOAR + D |
 | SIGMA | GIS reversed + MA | SIG + MA |
 | TOILET PAPER | Homophone of TOY + LIT + PAY + PURR | 🔊 (TOY + LIT + PAY + PURR) |
 | ROD | Remove the middle of RADIO + D (diameter) | RADIO + D |
 | MATTRESS | TRES (3 in Spanish) in MATS | MAT + TRES + S |
 | LIFESAVER | LI (Lithium) + SAFE anagrammed + Right half of SILVER | LI + FESA + SILVER |
 | GIANT | Right half of YUGI + left half of ANTHEM | YUGI + ANTHEM |
 | SNAKE | Head of NAIL in SAKE | S + NAIL + AKE |
Once teams have solved the cryptics, they can apply the indices provide to reveal the clue phrase MERGE DEFNS. If you combine the "definition" images and apply the rotations clued in the enumeration, you form another cryptic image. The left side of the final cryptic is the "definition" and the right side is the "wordplay" (Head of SNAKE + Anagram of LETTER). The answer to this cryptic image and the puzzle is SETTLER.
Authors’ Notes
It turns out, no one did. Prior to the release of the constraints and answers for the Fan o' Planes meta, Dan and Sushi made a pact that they would take any feeders that had no interested writers. This ended up being one of the lonely feeders that needed to be adopted. They later enlisted the help of Melissa to prototype what a cryptic image could look like.
The idea for the puzzle came to Sushi partly due to how bad she is at word cryptics. Normally during hunts, while her team is busily solving these clues, she is pretending to be helpful, while privately musing at the funny mental images that some of the clues invoked.