Out of Alignment
Solution
We first notice that individual symbols in each circle are letters that have been cut down the middle, where their right halves were “shifted” clockwise around the circle by some number. Left letter halves (black) are in the inner ring, and right halves (red) are in the outer ring. Turns out, each circle of symbols resolves to a string of letters spelling a clue.
The image below shows the unshifted letters of the alphabet.
We can answer each clue with an answer that can have the word “cycle” appended to it.
| Clue | Answer | Shift | Extract |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building block of life atom | CARBON | 6 | N |
| German zodiac crab | KREBS | 3 | E |
| Describing one who is cruel | VICIOUS | 6 | U |
| French thermodynamics scientist | CARNOT | 6 | T |
| A prefix meaning to do again | RE | 1 | R |
| A type of renewable energy | SOLAR | 2 | O |
| Related to the moon | LUNAR | 3 | N |
Indexing by the shift spells the answer NEUTRON.
Appendix
Realigned circles of clue letters:
