Please Prove Your Humanity

by Evan Davidson and Mike Selinker, with CAPTCHA script by Stephen Peters
Answer: TREBEK

This word search has two major hurdles. First, each row has been run through a CAPTCHA program, making it necessary to discern which letters are which before putting them into a traditional grid. Second, once that is done, the answers are not found in straight lines. Instead, each answer—the name of a fictional robot, android, or AI—appears in a stairstep pattern. For example, CLAMPS can be seen stairstepping down from the C in the left column. (Colors are given only to distinguish words from each other, not for any puzzle purpose.)

The clued robots and AIs are in alphabetical order. They are listed below, with sources in parentheses.

  1. Adam Link (I, Robot, by Eando Binder)
  2. Alsatia Zevo (Toys)
  3. Amazo (Justice League)
  4. AMEE (Red Planet)
  5. Avatar (Star Trek: Year Four)
  6. Bishop (Aliens)
  7. Clamps (Futurama)
  8. Clango (Diesel Sweeties)
  9. Data (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
  10. Emerl (Sonic Battle)
  11. Eve (Applegeeks)
  12. Golem (Hebrew Apocrypha)
  13. Gort (The Day The Earth Stood Still)
  14. Hadaly (Tomorrow's Eve)
  15. Helena (R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots))
  16. H.E.L.P.eR. (Venture Bros.)
  17. H.E.R.B.I.E. (Fantastic Four)
  18. Hymie (Get Smart)
  19. Irona (Richie Rich)
  20. KITT (Knight Rider)
  21. Leon Kowalski (Blade Runner)
  22. Marvin (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
  23. Otto (See Otto)
  24. Robbie (I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov)
  25. Rosie (The Jetsons)
  26. Rusty (The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot)
  27. See-Threepio (Star Wars)
  28. Sonny (I, Robot, the movie)
  29. Tik-Tok (Return to Oz)
  30. Tom Servo (Mystery Science Theater 3000)
  31. Twiki (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)
  32. Ulysses (Making Mr. Right)
  33. Vanessa Kensington (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me)
  34. Vicki (Small Wonder)
  35. Viral (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fast Forward)
  36. WALL-E (WALL-E)
  37. Yo-Yo (Holmes and Yo-Yo)

The leftover letters in the grid spell the clue JENNINGS CALLED WHICH ALEX A ROBOT? In his blog of July 19, 2006, Jeopardy! winner Ken Jennings called Alex TREBEK a robot—specifically the "Trebektron 4000."