Wordy Wednesday 544: Touchword 28

WORDY WEDNESDAY #541
CODEWORDS 24 (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 **
Michael Lebowitz **
Tyler Hinman **
Derek Allen **
Kevin Orfield **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #542
DIAGRAMLESS CROSSWORD 11 (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 **
Joe Bernard **
Michael Lebowitz **
Tyler Hinman **
Derek Allen **
Kevin Orfield **
Patrick Jordan **
Ryan Faley **
Sam Levitin **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #543
ANACROSSWORD 31 (hint)

As of this writing, 10 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 #544
TOUCHWORD 28
(click here for a PDF version)

In a crossword, words cross each other; in this puzzle, they merely touch. More specifically, all answers read across, and every letter shares an edge with at least one identical letter either immediately above or immediately below. The top and bottom rows are considered adjacent.

Arrange the letters in the shaded spaces to form the final answer, an 8-letter word.

1 Follows / Feel pain / Common pizza topping
2 Respect, as on the street / Obis and such / A dentist looks at them
3 Stupid people / Bird’s home / “New ____” (Tom Lehrer song)
4 Undo a correction in a manuscript / Meaningless / Tribute
5 Soviet dictator Joseph / Alaska’s most populous city
6 Being based on how things actually are / The Miami ____ (newspaper)
7 Extends, as a subscription / Many a church offering / Minnesota’s NHL team
8 1939 film classic based on a 1936 Margaret Mitchell novel: 4 wds.
9 Asian percussion instrument / Half of a half of a half / Pearls Before ____ (newspaper comic)
10 Fraudulently copy a signature / Inuit dwellings / Sharpen
11 Give up / Ambiguity in a law
12 Do-nothing / Goof ____ (1992-1993 Disney cartoon) / “____ mackerel!”
13 Animal Crossing: New ____ (2012 Nintendo 3DS game) / Wood decay that is caused by fungi: 2 wds. / False
14 “I ____ It Through the Grapevine” / Novice / Full of thistles
15 Newspaper publisher William Randolph / Gator relative / Charlie of Lamb Chop’s Play-Along, for one

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* What's a 5-letter word for "Wayne’s sidekick in Wayne’s World (1992)"?

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