Wordy Wednesday 706: Touchword 36

WORDY WEDNESDAY #704
ANACROSSWORD 51 (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 (blue names indicate the testing team, and red names indicate Patreon supporters):
Jason Boomer **
Joseph DeVincentis **
Kevin Orfield **
Russ Kale **
Sam Levitin **
Cathy Bowen **
Cindy Heisler **
Derek Allen **
Michael Lebowitz **
Pavel Curtis **
Ryan Faley **
Steve Levy **

WORDY WEDNESDAY #705
PENT WORDS 141 (hint)

As of this writing, 13 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 #706
TOUCHWORD 36
(click here for a PDF version)

Every row has one or more answers clued in order. 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. (If you want more of these puzzles, the author offers the Touchword subscription service Outside the Fox Puzzles.) Arrange the letters in the shaded squares to form the final answer, a Scrabble-legal (unhyphenated, uncapitalized, etc.) 8-letter word. 

1 Australian canine / Spud / Ascended
2 Reason to visit an auto repair shop, perhaps / One with a principal role / Completely occupy one’s interest
3 There are 100 in a dollar / Part of a guitar / Rock singer Tori
4 Challenge / ____ Toast Crunch (cereal)
5 Pointy beard / Vast expanse / ____ diagram
6 Small biting fly / Hollow rock / Period just before Christmas
7 Quite irate / One who is doomed: 2 wds.
8 Old-Testament-themed 2024 board game in which players rebuild Jerusalem: 3 wds.
9 Former Russian ruler / Soon / Hold dear
10 American nurse Barton / Get off the Internet: 2 wds.
11 Place for a figurative skeleton / ____ tape / What a windshield is made of
12 Non-poetic writing / Paradise / Falcon’s claws
13 Capital on the Vltava River / Wilder who played Willy Wonka / “The cheese stands ____”
14 Boast / Craving / City where Costco was founded
15 Game often played in churches and nursing homes / Target: ____ (2022 board game based on a Chicago rodent control campaign) / Common baby’s toy

COMING NEXT WEEK. . .

* A Logicrossword!

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