Verdict: ACCEPT — artifacts/review.json written (430 bytes, valid JSON, untracked; artifacts/ is gitignored). No image added to the repo.

Facts (measured from the file, test/scratch/decode.py)

• Integrity: downloaded to /tmp/candidate.png; sha256 = e456873121b5770e07c2f75740308f40ac91c20e53dc603e16ea13bcbf3049ea — exact match to the expected digest.
• Grid: 512×512 RGB8. Divided into 32×32 cells of 16×16 px, 0 of 1024 cells contained more than one colour → true nearest-neighbour upscale of a 32×32 source, no anti-aliasing, no gradients, no blur.
• Palette: exactly 8 distinct colours, every one on the allowed list: #0c1610 bg (32.4%), swamp #7cc84a (17.7%), navy #2b3a6b (17.7%), black outline (16.4%), moss #1b7a35 (5.8%), brick #df523e (5.4%), bone #f2efe6 (3.5%), gold #e8c548 (1.2%). Zero unlisted colours.
• Background: a single uniform #0c1610 field; no scenery, no stray colours.
• Text: no tEXt/iTXt/zTXt chunks (chunk list is IHDR, IDAT, IEND only); no glyph shapes in the grid; no frame or border rows.
• Composition: one connected figure, centred, navy shoulders span to the left and right edges and fill down to row 31 (bottom edge).

Inferences (reading the rendered image + grid)

• Species BEAR — two rounded protrusions at grid rows 2–6 (cols 7–9 and 21–23) with moss inner-ear shading, sitting on top of a broad round head, plus a moss muzzle block at rows 17–21 with a black mouth line. Read as ears + snout.
• Skin swamp — #7cc84a is the dominant body colour, exact hex.
• Eyes CYCLOPS — a single bone eye with black pupil at rows 11–15, centred cols 13–18. No second eye anywhere.
• Headgear BANDANA — brick band across rows 7–10 spanning the full forehead, with a knot/tail extruding right at cols 25–28.
• Outfit SUIT — navy jacket, bone lapels/collar, gold necktie down the centre.

Uncertainty (stated, not hidden)

• Species is the weakest trait. Green skin + a wide flat cranium gives the silhouette a frog/toad cast; I read it as a bear on the strength of the top-mounted round ears with inner-ear shading and the distinct muzzle, which a frog would not have. This is a judgement call, and it's why brief is 8 rather than 10.
• Rule 3 is not perfectly satisfied. The moss muzzle meets the swamp face with no black separation (rows 18–21), and the gold tie touches the bone collar directly at rows 25–26. Outlines around the silhouette, ears, eye and suit are present and 1 cell thick. Scored as a minor deduction (style 9), not a rejection, since no rejection criterion covers it.

Rejection criteria — none triggered

Every trait present; no text/watermark; verified pixel art; exactly one character.

Scores: brief 8, silhouette 8, style 9, originality 7. Originality held at 7 because the bust/suit framing is the generic set template — the bandana tail, cyclops eye and gold tie are what individuate it.