By Genie Luzwick
Answer: STRATEGY

This is a rebus puzzle where each framed picture is cluing an acronym. Each frame depicts all but one word of the acronym. For instance, frame 12 shows a care bear and a woman tenderizing a steak, cluing ‘TLC’, otherwise known as ‘tender loving care’. Since ‘loving’ is not depicted in the frame, that is the one word left out.

The frames are in alphabetical order by acronym. The numbers at the end of the puzzle correlate to the number of letters in each acronym word, with the blanks matching to the word not shown in the picture. For ‘TLC’, frame 12, the correct pair would be (6 _ 4). Tender (6), Loving (6), Care (4).

BASE: Building Antenna Span EARTH
Building: Tall building
Antenna: Antenna atop building
Span: Wing span of plane overhead
Enumeration: (8 7 4 5)
CANOLA: Canada Oil Low ACID
Canada: Canadian flag
Oil: Oil can
Low: Low battery symbol
Enumeration: (6 3 3 4)
DAEMON: Disc And EXECUTION Monitor
Disc: Floppy disc
Monitor: Computer monitor
Enumeration: (4 3 9 7)
DARE: Drug Abuse Resistance EDUCATION
Drug: Pills and needles
Abuse: Drug addict with too many pills and needles
Resistance: Fist on poster
Enumeration: (4 5 10 9)
MIT: Massachusetts INSTITUTE of Technology
Massachusetts: Outline of the state
Technology: iPod, digital alarm
Enumeration: (13 9 2 10)
NATO: North ATLANTIC Treaty Organization
North: Compass pointer
Treaty: Handshake
Organization: Flowchart
Enumeration:(5 8 6 12)
NIMBY: Not In MY Backyard
Not: Rope knot
Backyard: Backyard
Enumeration: (3 2 2 8)
OMG: Oh MY God
Oh: Oh from the movie Home
God: Zeus
Enumeration: (2 2 3)
POG: Passionfruit Orange GUAVA
Passionfruit: Fruit
Orange: Fruit
Enumeration: (12 6 5)
RAM: RANDOM Access Memory
Access: Microsoft Office Access Symbol
Memory: Head with a bunch of question marks floating overhead
Enumeration:(6 6 6)
TASER: THOMAS A Swift’s Electric Rifle
Swifts: The bird
Electric: Lightning bolts coming out of rifle
Rifle: Rifle gun
Enumeration: (6 1 6 8 5)
TLC: Tender LOVING Care
Tender: Tenderizing a steak
Care: Care Bear on the kitchen counter
Enumeration: (6 6 4)

The groups of numbers at the end of the puzzle are in the order needed to extract the answer.

RANDOM
EXECUTION
ACID
LOVING
THOMAS
INSTITUTE
MY
EARTH
GUAVA
ATLANTIC
MY
EDUCATION

The first letter of each missing acronym word per frame to spells out REAL TIME GAME. Looking at the very last part of the puzzle, the solver sees (4 4 _ 4). RTS Game (REAL TIME STRATEGY GAME is a common acronym in the gaming world. STRATEGY, the missing word, is the answer.