Wordy Wednesday 662: Logicrossword 17

WORDY WEDNESDAY #660
PENT WORDS 132 (answer)

Here is the answer to this puzzle. If you still wish to solve it yourself, please go here for the normal version of the puzzle, or here for the easier version of the puzzle. Here's a list of people who solved it:
Bonnie Veenschoten **
Cathy Bowen **
Cindy Heisler **
Derek Allen **
Joe Bernard **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Randy Rogers **
Russ Kale **
Kevin Orfield **
Marie desJardins **
Patrick Jordan *
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #661
MINI TOUCHWORD 8 (hint)

As of this writing, 15 people have solved this puzzle. Haven't solved it yet? Here's an easier version. Send your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com within the next week to appear on the solvers list and be recognized for your puzzle prowess. Good luck, solvers!

WORDY WEDNESDAY #662
LOGICROSSWORD 17
(click here for a PDF version)

Blacken some cells in the grid and fill the rest with letters to form words. Hereafter, a “word” refers to any string of two or more consecutive letters reading from left to right or top to bottom, bounded on both sides by black cells or the edge of the grid. All words are Scrabble-legal and appear in the NASPA Word List 2023 Edition (NWL2023). A list of all acceptable 2-letter words is provided as a solving aid; all of the words which are not on this list and not mentioned in the clues should be familiar to most solvers. Use the clues, logic, and your vocabulary to find the solution.

Arrange the letters in the highlighted cells to get the final answer, a single Scrabble-legal word. (If any of the highlighted cells are blackened, then the final answer will be less than 8 letters long.) 

AA AB AD AE AG AH AI AL AM AN AR AS AT AW AX AY BA BE BI BO BY DA DE DO ED EF EH EL EM EN ER ES ET EW EX FA FE GI GO HA HE HI HM HO ID IF IN IS IT JO KA KI LA LI LO MA ME MI MM MO MU MY NA NE NO NU OD OE OF OH OI OK OM ON OP OR OS OW OX OY PA PE PI PO QI RE SH SI SO TA TE TI TO UH UM UN UP US UT WE WO XI XU YA YE YO ZA
• No two black cells share an edge. All the white cells are connected through their edges. No word is repeated in the grid.
• Row 1 contains exactly one black cell.
• Row 3 contains a word whose first letter is W.
• Row 4 contains the words GI and WHOMSO, in that order from left to right; one of these words intersects DWARF.
• Row 5 contains a 6-letter word that contains the substring NF.
• Row 8 contains the word IN and a word that contains the substring HE.
• Row 9 contains a 5-letter word whose first letter is A and whose last letter is not E.
• Column D contains the letter S.
• Column E contains the word TO, which intersects the word OE.
• Column G contains the word IMID, which intersects the word MAC.
• Column H contains fewer black cells than column I.
• Cell C1 contains a letter.
• The words HYPOXIC, IT, NAIFS, and NARD appear somewhere in the grid.

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's the largest Nordic country?

Submit your answers to glmathgrant[at]gmail[dot]com. Until next time, happy solving!