Picture an Acorn (solution)

by Francis Heaney and Andrew Lin

This puzzle centers around eggcorns, the phenomenon where a phrase with an unfamiliar word is mutated by unknowing speakers into a similar-sounding, and curiously also sensible, phrase. Each cartoon depicts the mutated version of an eggcorn, and the twenty letter transformations in the top circle represent the mutations that have occurred to generate them:

Acorn (un-mutated)	Eggcorn (mutated)	Mutation
ROLL CALL	ROLE CALL	L → E
WITHOUT FURTHER ADO	WITHOUT FURTHER ADIEU	1 → 3
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER	POST-DRAMATIC STRESS DISORDER	4 → 3
STEAM TURBINE	STEAM TURBAN	3 → 2
JUST DESERTS	JUST DESSERTS	+S
TOE THE LINE	TOW THE LINE	E → W
BEAR WITNESS	BARE WITNESS	3 → 3
PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE	PUT THE CAT BEFORE THE HORSE	−R
ANCHORS AWEIGH	ANCHORS AWAY	4 → 2
SPINAL CORD	SPINAL CHORD	+H
FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES	FOR ALL INTENSIVE PURPOSES	5 → 4
PLANE GEOMETRY	PLAIN GEOMETRY	2 → 2
FREE REIN	FREE REIGN	+G
PRAYING MANTIS	PREYING MANTIS	A → E
PAY PER VIEW	PAPER VIEW	−Y
SHOO-IN	SHOE-IN	O → E
SCAPEGOAT	ESCAPE GOAT	+E
BALD-FACED LIE	BOLD-FACED LIE	A → O
SOCIAL MORES	SOCIAL MORAYS	1 → 2
SNEAK PEEK	SNEAK PEAK	E → A

For each wedge in the top circle, find the matching cartoon and take the corresponding numbered wedge. Reassembling them yields one final cartoon:

This depicts BAITED BREATH, which is an eggcorn for the answer, BATED BREATH.