Robots in Disguise

by Foggy Brume and Mike Selinker
Answer: WARREN BEATTY

These images represent the Secret Service codenames of various people, past and present. Each transformation is left-, center-, or right-aligned, indicating whether you are transforming the first name, whole name, or last name respectively.

CodenamePersonTransformationResultUltimate TransformationResult
HAWKEYEZBIGNIEW BrzinskiRemove all my even letters, and I transform into a kind of publication.ZINEThis publication is the starting point for the Ultimate Transformer.ZINE
CLAM CHOWDERRon NESSENRemove a bigram (two consecutive letters) from within me, and I transform into a local cable channel.NESNFind the channel’s initial bigram within the Ultimate Transformer. Replace it with the channel’s final bigram.ZISN
SUNSHINEMarilyn QUAYLESay me out loud, and I transform into a bird.QUAILIdentify the two letters that appear in this step’s original transformer but don't appear in the bird. Add them in alphabetical order to the end of the Ultimate Transformer.ZISNEY
CELTICJOE BIDENChange my first letter into a new letter and anagram me, and I transform into an adjective meaning “faithful.”OBEDIENTDouble this new letter, then add both of them to the Ultimate Transformer immediately before its last letter.ZISNETTY
SMURFETTEKARENNA GoreAdd a new letter somewhere within me, and I transform into the last name of a literary title character.KARENINARemove this new letter from the Ultimate Transformer.ZSNETTY
TURQUOISEBARBARA BushRemove two nonconsecutive letters from me, and I transform into a cartoon character.BABARReplace the Ultimate Transformer’s second consonant with this cartoon character.ZBABARNETTY
WOODCUTTERHenry KISSINGERReplace a well-known heavy metal band with a single letter, and I transform into another, lesser-known heavy metal band.WINGER (KISS/W)Remove the Nth letter of the Ultimate Transformer, where N is the number of members in the original lineup of the more well-known band.ZBAARNETTY
COPPERTONEROSE KennedyAdd the letter P to the front of me and a four-letter adjective to the end of me, and I transform into a trial-related verb.PROSECUTEThis verb is a kangaroo word (a word whose letters include its own synonym, like UnsiGhtLY or conTAmINaTe). Add the shorter synonym to the front of the Ultimate Transformer.SUEZBAARNETTY
SAWHORSEAL GOREShift one of my bigrams to a different position within me, and I transform into a six-letter adjective.GALOREAdd this adjective’s initial trigram to the Ultimate Transformer immediately after its sixth letter.SUEZBAGALARNETTY
RAINBOWNANCY ReaganRemove my first letter and anagram me, and I transform into a color.CYANAdd this color to the Ultimate Transformer immediately after its third consonant.SUEZBCYANAGALARNETTY
CAMEOJoan MONDALERemove my Xth letter and anagram me, and I transform into something edible.ALMONDRemove the Ultimate Transformer’s Xth letter.SUEZBCANAGALARNETTY
SWORDFISHPhillip CRANEReplace my final bigram with a new letter, and I transform into something that’s in the same category as what I started as.CRANE/CRABFind that new letter and that bigram within the Ultimate Transformer. Move that letter into the middle of that bigram.SUEZCANAGALARNBETTY
SNAPSHOTHoward BAKERCopy one of my bigrams, reverse it, and add this new bigram somewhere within me, and I transform into something a trucker might say.BREAKERAdd this new bigram somewhere within the Ultimate Transformer such that when you’re done, it contains two pairs of doubled consonants.SUEZCANAGALARRENBETTY
RHYMEMaureen REAGANRemove a trigram from within me, and I transform into a cartoon character.RENFind both the trigram and the cartoon character within the Ultimate Transformer. Move the trigram into the cartoon character so this step’s original transformer appears within the Ultimate Transformer.SUEZCANLARREAGANBETTY
DENALISarah PALINReverse one of my bigrams, and I transform into a word meaning "ordinary".PLAINAnywhere the new bigram appears within the Ultimate Transformer, reverse it so it becomes the original bigram.SUEZCANALRREAGANBETTY
DIAMONDCHIP CarterReplace my initial bigram with a new letter, and I transform into something into which I can be plunged.DIPAdd this new letter to the Ultimate Transformer immediately before each occurrence of doubled letters.SUEZCANALDRREAGANBEDTTY
STRAWBERRYRose Mary WOODSReplace my doubled letter with a new doubled letter, and I transform into things you don’t want in your garden.WEEDSRemove any palindromic sequence of three or more letters from the Ultimate Transformer if that sequence immediately follows a single instance of this new letter.SUEZCANALDRRENBEDTTY
DRILLERTODD PalinReplace one of my letters with a new letter, and I transform into a villain in a 2000 superhero film.TOADRepeat this replacement as often as possible within the Ultimate Transformer.SUEZCANALARRENBEATTY
DRAGONWALTER MondaleRemove one of my letters that’s from the second half of the alphabet, and I become a word meaning “change.”ALTERFind a body of water within the Ultimate Transformer. Replace it with the removed letter.WARRENBEATTY

Your final result is WARREN BEATTY.