First of all, I see the word "16 16 9 17 9" near the top right. Words starting with double letters are rare, and the only English word which fits this is LLAMA. That gives us:
Then in the upper middle we have a 3-letter word "16 11 11", which must be either LEE or LOO. There are no 6-letter words beginning with AO and ending with A, so it must be LEE, giving:
Now we have "13 9 7 9" near the top right and "9 13 9 11" on the right-hand side, leading me to the conclusion that these are RAMA and ARAE. So:
The word "A R 6" in the top left must be ART or ARC or ARK (since E and M are taken). The relative frequency of 6, as well as the words "12 6 E M" and "6 R A 21" in the lower right and "E R A 6 7" in the upper right, suggests that:
Then "E R A 6 7" must be ERATO (and "7 6 7" in the middle is OTO), giving:
And "12 T E M" in the lower right must be STEM, giving:
The combination of "S E 3 S E" at the top and "M A 3 3 E R" at the bottom right makes me quite sure that:
Now the combination of "23 E N N 5" at the bottom and "T R O 5" in the middle makes me quite sure that:
The words "R 2 M" in the middle and "10 20 N 20 R "on the right tell me that 2 and 20 are both vowels, so they must be I and U in some order. The word "T 8 A 20 N" on the right, as well as the relative frequencies of 2 and 20, gives:
At this stage I finally solved the cryptic clue:
Amusing key glues crazy = FUNKY (FUN+KY ~ crazy), so
Mopping up several in quick succession: "22 E F F E R S O N" is obviously JEFFERSON, "F R E U 19" is obviously FREUD, "E I F F E L T O 8 E R" is obviously EIFFEL TOWER; "10 R I E F" could be either BRIEF or GRIEF, but "T U R I N 10" makes clear which one. So:
- 8 = W
- 10 = G
- 19 = D
- 22 = J
Now "A G N E S A R 14 E R" must be AGNES ARBER and "D I 18 K E N S" must be DICKENS and "F L I 21" must be FLIP and "A G A T 23 A" must be AGATHA, so:
- 14 = B
- 18 = C
- 21 = P
- 23 = H
Finally, "15 O C A L P O P" must be VOCAL POP, so:
And the final solution is:
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A |
G |
N |
E |
S |
A |
R |
B |
E |
R |
■ |
V |
R |
A |
■ |
L |
E |
E |
■ |
E |
R |
A |
T |
O |
T |
U |
R |
I |
N |
G |
■ |
L |
■ |
M |
A |
C |
■ |
T |
■ |
■ |
S |
I |
■ |
L |
L |
A |
M |
A |
D |
I |
C |
K |
E |
N |
S |
■ |
A |
■ |
■ |
L |
■ |
E |
L |
■ |
■ |
A |
E |
■ |
F |
L |
I |
P |
G |
R |
I |
E |
F |
■ |
O |
T |
O |
■ |
N |
O |
O |
■ |
F |
I |
R |
A |
■ |
R |
U |
M |
■ |
P |
J |
E |
F |
F |
E |
R |
S |
O |
N |
■ |
T |
■ |
I |
D |
■ |
F |
U |
N |
K |
Y |
T |
O |
W |
N |
■ |
■ |
M |
E |
D |
I |
A |
■ |
A |
R |
A |
E |
B |
A |
E |
L |
■ |
C |
■ |
G |
I |
N |
I |
R |
A |
G |
A |
T |
H |
A |
■ |
■ |
N |
A |
N |
O |
B |
■ |
D |
O |
E |
■ |
S |
T |
E |
M |
■ |
■ |
B |
R |
O |
W |
N |
■ |
A |
R |
■ |
E |
V |
E |
■ |
O |
W |
E |
N |
■ |
M |
A |
N |
N |
E |
R |
E |
N |
■ |
R |
Y |
E |
■ |
P |
A |
T |
E |
R |
with the letters appearing in the following numerical order:
F U N K Y T O W A G E S R B V L M C D I P J H (with Q, X, Z not present).