We are first confronted with a series of scrolls, each with two rebus picture puzzles attached. Each of these rebuses solve to a single word, and are ordered alphabetically by the word on the left side:
Left Word | Explanation | Right Word | Explanation |
---|---|---|---|
DAWN | DARWIN - RI | PREPARE | "PRE" pair |
EARTH | "EAR"-th | DESTINED | STINE is removed = de-"stine"-d |
FIGHT | "EIGHT" with E to F | CUT | COURT - OR |
LEAD | "LE" ad | COMMIT | COMET - ET + MIT |
MEMORY | MEMO + RYE - E | NEVER | More NEV = NEVER |
MIND | Min(imum) of D | HEAVEN | He Avenue North = He Ave. N |
OBLIVION | OB (gyn) + LIV (tyler) + ION | REDUCE | UCE, in the color RED |
RETURN | RE turn | CONSIGN | A sign of a CON(vention) |
RIBBONS | RIB + BONS | SPRING | An "SP" RING |
RUBBLE | RULER with two Bs - R | FINISH | Kinda like FIN |
START | "ST" ART | DUSK | US inside DK |
From here, we can observe from the words obtained and from the title of the puzzle, “Trash to Treasure”, that many of the words can be combined with the word “to”. In fact, they can all be paired up with one word from the right leading to one word from the left (with the exception of START and FINISH):
DUSK | to | DAWN |
HEAVEN | to | EARTH |
PREPARE | to | FIGHT |
DESTINED | to | LEAD |
COMMIT | to | MEMORY |
SPRING | to | MIND |
CONSIGN | to | OBLIVION |
NEVER | to | RETURN |
CUT | to | RIBBONS |
REDUCE | to | RUBBLE |
The one backwards pair is START TO FINISH, but this gives a specific order that the pages in the first half of the puzzle can be arranged, i.e:
Furthermore, astute fans of Magic: The Gathering may recognize that each of these words make up half of a Magic: The Gathering card, specifically all from a set of cards known as “Aftermath” cards. A quick search of most combinations of these words should lead to the above for those unfamiliar with MTG.
Once we piece together that the words come from specific MTG cards, solving any remaining rebuses should become much more straightforward. From there, solvers can look at the second half of the puzzle, which consists of 11 half pages, all ripped from the left side. Since there are also 11 pages in the first section of the puzzle, these half pages can naturally pair with the left side words on the first half to obtain the name of a new Magic the Gathering card. Indexing into the names of these cards with the provided number, and ordering by the order from above gives the final extraction:
Left Card | Right Card | Half page clue | MTG Card | Index | Extracted Letter |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
START | DUSK | YOUR ENGINES | Start Your Engines | 12 | G |
DAWN | PREPARE | CHARM | Dawn Charm | 8 | R |
FIGHT | CUT | WITH FIRE | Fight With Fire | 7 | I |
RIBBONS | SPRING | OF NIGHT | Ribbons Of Night | 10 | N |
MIND | HEAVEN | BEND | Mind Bend | 8 | D |
EARTH | DESTINED | SHAKER GIANT | Earthshaker Giant | 16 | T |
LEAD | COMMIT | GOLEM | Lead Golem | 6 | O |
MEMORY | NEVER | DRAIN | Memory Drain | 7 | D |
RETURN | CONSIGN | TO NATURE | Return to Nature | 12 | U |
OBLIVION | REDUCE | STONE | Oblivion Stone | 9 | S |
RUBBLE | FINISH | BELT RUNNER | Rubblebelt Runner | 10 | T |
This gives the solution GRIND TO DUST, another aftermath card from the same set of cards.