Yogurt from the Crypt - Solution

We are presented with a set of cryptic-looking yogurts and clues. Pictorially, each yogurt represents a specific character from Greek mythology (which is clued by Chobani, a brand of "Greek" yogurt). Upon closer inspection, each character (except the last) is also associated with one word in each of the cryptic clues. These words’ first letters and enumerations exactly correspond to the letter and number of the yogurt vitamins.

With these connections, the cryptic clues can be grouped under each Greek character. One additional modification must be made to each type of clue which is thematic to the character itself. The following table summarizes the modifications and solutions to each clue.

By sorting the clues in the order of the vitamins, and rearranging the clues according to the order of yogurts in the image, we can read the first letter of each answer to get one final cryptic clue:

ACTRESS STONE LANGUAGE TRADE HEADS COIN FOR LIFE

The unused Hades yogurt at the bottom of the image can now be used to make one last transformation from LIFE→DEATH, since Hades is the god of the underworld.

ACTRESS STONE LANGUAGE TRADE HEADS COIN FOR DEATH

To solve the final cryptic clue, SHARON (actress Stone) and COBOL (a programming language) trade first letters (heads) to yield CHARON’S OBOL, a ritual coin placed in the mouths of the dead used as payment for passage into the underworld.

Author's Notes

• Inspired by the infamous Cryptic Command of GPH 2018, we sought to construct a challenging gridless cryptic involving transformations. I’ve always been fascinated by Greek mythology, and felt that thematic transformations related to such characters would make for a memorable puzzle. The inspiration for "Greek yogurt" or Chobani came later as a way to hint at the Greek connection without giving too much away. One other unintended consequence of the puzzle theme was that solvers who didn’t have much experience in cryptics were still able to contribute by identifying vitamins and the thematic Greek words in each clue.
• Puzzle difficulty was another dimension we made sure to keep an eye on. When we started to write this puzzle in July, we were certain that this was going to be one of the toughest puzzles in the hunt due to the extra transformations on top of the cryptic clues. To counteract the difficulty of the clues, the final clue phrase was made cheeseable from just 3 words - it’s possible to get the final answer by googling GREEK COIN FOR LIFE (or DEATH).
• In an earlier version of the puzzle, some clues were much harder than they are in the current version. Specifically, most of our Prometheus clues deliberately had FIRE cross word boundaries, resulting in a printer's devilry style clue. Here’s one of the hardest: "In ancient civilization and country, many possibly go poo (5)"
  
  Solution: "In ancient civilization and country, many possible go pooF IRE" gives ANGER as the answer (MAYAN + GERMANY - MANY - MAY).
• One interesting trend was the rise in popularity of the video game Hades, and its reference in the Deity Duos puzzle of DP Hunt. Luckily, none of the characters played a major role in the game, but we’re curious to hear if the theme or in-game currency helped prime the break-in or answer to this puzzle!
• Finally, as first-time cryptic writers (but long-time tasters), constructing 40-odd cryptics with numerous constraints was no mean feat. We’re pretty happy with the set that we churned out, and we hope that they were difficult but fair!

If you’re hungering for more, here are some unused clues that were axed for various reasons (solve at your own risk; quality not assured):

• A man-eater (the greatest performer) follows it home to meat-eaters (8)
• Galway’s regenerating genre (9)
• A tan, savage islander becomes a portman (7)
• "EA ends gaming!" - Chicago Sun exposé (4)
• Ambition is starting to learn, on and on, from zero to one (7)