Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 10, Episode 9 (Meta): Vanishing Act

PREVIOUS EPISODES

Introduction (what these puzzles are and why they're called "Kevin's Puzzles at Home Season 10"): click here
Episode 1 (Crazy Clocks): puzzle PDF, hint PDF
* 16 people solved this within the first week for 50 points apiece; 4 people solved it later for 25 points.
Episode 2 (Before and After): puzzle PDF, hint PDF
* 18 people solved this within the first week for 50 points apiece; 2 people solved it later for 25 points.
Episode 3 (Tabletop Talk): puzzle PDF, hint PDF
* 17 people solved this within the first week for 50 points apiece; 3 people solved it later for 25 points.
Episode 4 (Scrambled Crossword): puzzle PDF, hint PDF
* 19 people solved this within the first week for 50 points apiece; 1 person solved it later for 25 points.
Episode 5 (Mystifying Midpoints): puzzle PDF, hint PDF
* 16 people solved this within the first week for 50 points apiece; 2 people solved it later for 25 points.
Episode 6 (More Horsing Around): puzzle PDF, hint PDF
* 15 people solved this within the first week for 50 points apiece; 3 people solved it later for 25 points.
Episode 7 (Tales of the Cryptogram): puzzle PDF, hint PDF
* 18 people solved this within the first week for 50 points apiece; 1 person solved it later for 25 points.
Episode 8 (Cruel Crisscross): puzzle PDF, hint PDF
* 14 people solved this within the first week for 50 points apiece.

The total number of points scored 7050. Thus, the current money pool for the Food Bank of West Central Texas is $70.50. Three anonymous benefactors have agreed to match this donation, meaning that the Food Bank of West Central Texas will actually receive $282.00. If you haven't already, you may solve the above puzzles for 25 points, possibly with the aid of the hints. These 8 answers will also be necessary for solving the meta below.

KEVIN'S PUZZLES AT HOME
SEASON 10, EPISODE 9 (META):
VANISHING ACT
(click here for a PDF version)

It looks like Kevin has once again decided to take up the hobby of magic, this time showcasing his ability to make letters disappear! How did the audience respond to Kevin’s latest act?

“With a wave of my magic wand, every letter that’s identical to another letter in the same row will disappear. As a result, the visible letters in one column now spell a 4-letter word from top to bottom; those letters will also disappear. One row has exactly two visible letters; the one that is later in the alphabet is the next letter to disappear. The bottommost visible letter T will now disappear, as will any letter horizontally adjacent to it. Now you see 4 instances of one single letter, but with a wave of the wand, now you don’t see any of them. Two Roman numerals are visible in two horizontally or vertically adjacent spaces, but I’ll make them disappear because math class is tough. Next, I could change this letter to the letter R to spell a 6‑letter word in its row from left to right, but I will leave it alone and make the other 5 letters in that row disappear instead. The visible letters in two other rows spell words of 2 or more letters from left to right; I will make the last letter of the shorter word disappear, as well as all but the third letter of the longer word. Two consecutive letters of the alphabet occupy spaces which share an edge, and that’s right, they’re now gone. Four visible letters occupy four spaces which meet at a corner; all of the consonants in that group are gone. The final disappearance will be two letters occupying vertically adjacent spaces, the one on the bottom being a consonant. Ta-da!”

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(This illustration by Infernal is not part of the puzzle. Any resemblance between this Kevin and the one who runs www.kevinspuzzles.com is purely coincidental.)

Submit your answer to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com for 50 points, and stay tuned next week for Episode 9's hint, and then the week after for the solutions. Good luck!