The CIA Posts an Image That's Loaded With Clues

The CIA kicked off its Instagram account Thursday with an image of a desk and a simple clue: "I spy with my little eye..." The challenge, it seems, is to interpret the meaning of objects in the photo—like a wig, a clock set for 8:46, and a pair of cuff-links, the BBC reports. The CIA says the objects were gathered from current agency workers. How many can you figure out? With a SPOILER ALERT, a few answers:

• The bamboo plant looks like a reference to, what else, CIA foreign intelligence plants.
• Artwork is of Tony Mendez, the CIA officer who pretended to be a filmmaker to rescue six American hostages from Iran in 1980.
• Cuff-links have apparently been worn by a CIA case officer and an asset to identify each other.
• The clock is set to 8:46, the moment a plane hit the World Trade Center's North Tower on 9/11.
• The golden owl represents Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom. It was apparently offered by CIA Chief Operating Officer Andy Makridis, who is Greek-American.
• Maps of Iran, China, and Russia remind us of America's top international rivals.
• A "burn bag" labeled "TOP SECRET PULP" is for destroying evidence.
• A CIA badge dangling from a jacket shows CIA Director Gina Haspel's original 1985 CIA photo, per the Verge.

Haspel announced the Instagram move at a Q&A in Auburn and mentioned the agency's already-existing Twitter account, per CBS News. "There are some people still around at agency who really don't know what that is—and are against it in principle, I'm sure," she said.