PUZZLE #600: Diagramless Fill-In

PUZZLE #600

DIAGRAMLESS FILL-IN

This puzzle type was (partially) suggested by Patron Grant Fikes. Normally, you can suggest a puzzle type of your own choice over on my Patreon page, but both slots are full at the moment, so you might have to resort to PayPal if you still want to make a request of your own.

It's my 600th puzzle! And whenever I reach a big milestone like that, I tend do do something special for the occasion, and this time, it's an all-new-to-this-blog format! This one will be a toughie, however, so I'd suggest reading the directions carefully before jumping straight in.

Below is a fill-in crossword, where all of the answers have been given and all you need to do is to put them into the grid so that they'll all mesh together correctly. However, almost all of the black squares have disappeared, and the only thing left are all of the places where the letter "E" appears. To get started, look for patterns in the provided "E"s that will match the words in the answer list; words with double "E"s and/or multiple "E"s will help out the most. Then, continue fitting the remaining words into the grid. Don't forget to add black squares before and/or after each word (where applicable), and then add their counterparts on the opposite side of the grid so that all of the black squares will have rotational symmetry (two black squares have already been filled in to provide a visual example).

There are two words in the list that have not been revealed, neither of which contains an "E". Figure them out, then combine them to get the FINAL ANSWER: a two-word phrase

3 Letters

ADS

COY

END

FIX

LAW

LOX

OFF

RUG

RUN

TOM

VEG

ZEO

4 Letters

ATOP

BLUE

DEFT

DENS

FLAG

FREE

HIYA

MOCK

OMEN

OPEN

PAPA

REIN

SNOT

TAXI

TEED

YALE

5 Letters

ASIAN

CYCLE

ELITE

FLEES

FORTY

GETUP

GIFTS

GRIEF

LEERS

PESOS

PETER

PSHAW

ROPED

VAPOR

6 Letters

APOGEE

ARTIER

EXOTIC

GINKGO

GUSHED

GYRATE

HEREIN

SNEEZE

TOBIAS

TOYOTA

7 Letters

ASSORTS

CHIEFLY

DEFAMED

EXECUTE

PERPLEX

REPTILE

8 Letters

HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER

THE OTHER HALF OF THE FINAL ANSWER

Once you believe you've figured out the FINAL ANSWER, send it to either redhead64@chartermi.net or itsredhead64@gmail.com (though I'm more likely to check the second one) and I'll put your name on a solvers list once I post the answers in about two weeks. You can also use those email addresses to give me some comments and feedback (or even ask for a hint, though you'll be marked as having used one if you do so) or send me the answer to last week's puzzle, if you haven't already figured it out. If you have a printer and want to solve this puzzle on paper, just head below the break for a link to a .PDF version which you can print out!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Isi2jvPSyVQHCVanoSsb7NvO-8C99BPJ/view