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By Tom Buehler
Answer: CONE

Each photo shows a location at MIT, and in that location is a photo of a celebrity. The locations and celebrities are in order:

  • Building 46 Lobby – Gwyneth Paltrow
  • Building E25 Lobby – Jerry Seinfeld
  • Building 1, 2nd Floor – Alec Baldwin
  • Stata Center, 1st Floor – Gregory Peck
  • Building 66 Lobby – Steve Jobs
  • Building 37 Lobby – Justin Bieber
  • Building 6, 1st Floor – Salman Rushdie
  • Building E25 Lobby – Mickey Mantle
  • Lobby 7 – Marilyn Monroe
  • Building E25 Lobby – Mitch Williams

Visiting each location, you will find that the photos are taken from the point of view of a portrait in that location. The first and last name of the person in each portrait has the same enumeration as the first and last name of the celebrity in the photograph.

  • GWYNETH PALTROW – BARBARA PICOWER
  • JERRY SEINFELD – UNCAS WHITAKER
  • ALEC BALDWIN – JOHN FREEMAN
  • GREGORY PECK – CHARLES VEST
  • STEVE JOBS – DAVID KOCH
  • JUSTIN BIEBER – RONALD MCNAIR
  • SALMAN RUSHDIE – GEORGE EASTMAN
  • MICKEY MANTLE – IRVING LONDON
  • MARILYN MONROE – WILLIAM ROGERS
  • MITCH WILLIAMS – HELEN WHITAKER

Additionally, there is a single letter in the same position in each pair of names, bolded above. These letters spell out “PINE OR SNOW.” “Cone” connects these two words (“pinecone” and “snowcone”) and CONE is the answer.