A simple crossword

Question

Right:

A2. Moving through water
M10. Usually consists of sand and pebbles
I8. Yes
H6. Mythical sea monster
L9. A fish
F14. A praising poem
H13. The largest constellation
A14. A treasure hunter of the sea
J13. Therefore
K8. Seaweed
E-F8. Trust me, I am an …
D7. A high steep face of a rock
G4. A novel from Daniel Defoe
H7. Mollusk
B6. Used for rowing a boat
H9. H2O
I2-J3. A poem performed melodically
F13. A calming color
{Blank}. A sea voyage, mainly for pleasure.

Down

C10. Water moving in a circle
E11. A port
M10. Near or next to.
D9. Northern English form of oh.
C13. Conceal
I8. Keeps ships in one place
L9. An atoll
J6. A Japanese feudal clan from the Muromachi/Sengoku period
N5. A famous French science-fiction writer.
A6. A scary "triangle" in the sea
J13. A seaman
E13. A red fish is pulling your leg.
N1. Underwater vehicle
B8-9. A large crustacean
H10. A wooden disc with holes, used for tightening shrouds
D12. Riding ocean waves on a board
H7. Shore
I5. A musical note
N12. A type of gentle wind

Here is a google spreadsheet version as well.

Hint:

I thought the solution would be pretty straightforward at this point, but maybe I am wrong and it is not so straightforward?

Answer 1

Because this has been stale for a while, I think it might be relevant to post that I grow increasingly convinced of the fact that:

the final grid should be read as a spiral.

Doing so gives me:

ONCEWINEDARKFEAREDADOREDCANKILLORHEAL.AKEM..EACEFORGR.NT..ICA.BE.EA.LY.SLOWAS.HEGROUNDDISTURBE.ICANRAISEHIGHTHE.FALLHOMEORGRA.EUSE.AN.ABUSE.BRI.GING.OYOR.E.PAI.TREASURESI.ID.DANGEROUSY..VULNERABLE

With interpolations marked in lower case, some suggested by M Oehm and some of which OP helpfully completed in comments:

ONCE WINE DARK
FEARED ADORED
CAN KILL OR HEAL
tAKE My pEACE FOR GRaNTed
I CAn BE dEAdLY
aS LOW AS tHE GROUND
DISTURBEd I CAN RAISE HIGH THEn FALL
HOME OR GRAvE
USEd ANd ABUSEd
BRInGING jOY OR dEsPAIr
TREASURES I hIDe
DANGEROUS Yet VULNERABLE

This looks a bit riddle-like to me, which is getting a bit out of my area :)

The next step should be identifying the answer:

The answer of "ocean" after applying the letter mapping at the end of the puzzle would get us Cx49B, which actually happens to be the picture of a bay (Navagio Beach, or Shipwreck Beach):



This answer also fits the overall theme of the crossword, whose answers are all related to the ocean.

Answer 2

Solved the crowssword:

Gareth extracted the letters and put them in a table:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N 1 I . I D . d A N G E R O u S 2 S R G R A . E U S E . A N Y 3 E O R O U N D D I S T U . E 4 R E G O R G R . N T . R A . 5 u M E F A N K I L L . B B V 6 S O H E C A R K F O I E U U 7 a H . C D D N C E R C . S l 8 E L S A E E O E A H A I E N 9 R L A E R N I W R E . C . e 10 T A W . O D A D E A B A B R 11 . F O . M E K A . L E N R A 12 I . L S . Y L . A E . R I B 13 A E H T H G I H E S I A . L 14 P . E . R O Y O . G N I G E

The following words can be found:

DANGEROUS, VULNERABLE, KILL, FEAR, SIN (few others not along this theme)

Here are the individual answers:

Right:

No.   Clue                                       Answer 
----------------------------------------------------------------
A2    Moving through water                       SWIMMING
M10   Usually consists of sand and pebbles       BEACH
I8    Yes                                        AYE
H6    Mythical sea monster                       KRAKEN
L9    A fish                                     COD
F14   A praising poem                            ODE
H13   The largest constellation                  HYDRA
A14   A treasure hunter of the sea               PIRATE
J13   Therefore                                  SO
K8    Seaweed                                    ALGAE
E-F8  Trust me, I am an …                        ENGINEER
D7    A high steep face of a rock                CLIFF
G4    A novel from Daniel Defoe                  ROBINSON CRUSOE
H7    Mollusk                                    CLAM
B6    Used for rowing a boat                     OAR
H9    H2O                                        WATER
I2-J3 A poem performed melodically               SONG
F13   A calming color                            GREEN
BLANK A sea voyage, mainly for pleasure.         CRUISE

Down:

No.   Clue                                                       Answer 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
C10   Water moving in a circle                                   WHIRLPOOL
E11   A port                                                     MARINA
M10   Near or next to.                                           SO
D9    Northern English form of oh.                               EE
C13   Conceal                                                    HIDE
I8    Keeps ships in one place                                   ANCHOR
L9    An atoll                                                   CORAL REEF
J6    A Japanese feudal clan from the Muromachi/Sengoku period   ODA
N5    A famous French science-fiction writer.                    VERNE
A6    A scary "triangle" in the sea                              SHARK
J13   A seaman                                                   SAILOR
E13   A red fish is pulling your leg.                            HERRING
N1    Underwater vehicle                                         SUBMARINE
B8-9  A large crustacean                                         LOBSTER
H10   A wooden disc with holes, used for tightening shrouds      DEADEYE
D12   Riding ocean waves on a board                              SURFING
H7    Shore                                                      COAST
I5    A musical note                                             LA
N12   A type of gentle wind                                      BREEZE

Answer 3

I was a few minutes slower filling in the main grid than Beastly Gerbil, perhaps because I was also filling in this:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N 1 I . I D . d A N G E R O u S 2 S R G R A . E U S E . A N Y 3 E O R O U N D D I S T U . E 4 R E G O R G R . N T . R A . 5 u M E F A N K I L L . B B V 6 S O H E C A R K F O I E U U 7 a H . C D D N C E R C . S l 8 E L S A E E O E A H A I E N 9 R L A E R N I W R E . C . e 10 T A W . O D A D E A B A B R 11 . F O . M E K A . L E N R A 12 I . L S . Y L . A E . R I B 13 A E H T H G I H E S I A . L 14 P . E . R O Y O . G N I G E

(lowercase letters are obviously-called-for interpolations) which, on translation via the key at the bottom (including the interpolations, which may or may not be a ludicrous mistake) yields

9 . 9 F . F 9 B R 4 0 C Z j j 0 R 0 9 . 4 Z j 4 . 9 B G 4 C 0 C Z B F F 9 j S Z . 4 0 4 R C 0 R 0 . B S . 0 9 . Z E 4 T 9 B V 9 d d . 1 1 a j C A 4 x 9 0 V T C 9 4 Z Z 9 A . x F F B x 4 0 x . j d 4 d j 9 4 4 C 4 9 A 9 9 4 B 0 d 9 4 0 B 9 N 0 4 . x . 4 S 9 N . C F 9 F 4 9 1 9 1 0 . T C . E 4 V 9 . d 4 B 0 9 9 . d j . G d . 9 4 . 0 9 1 9 4 A S A R 9 A 4 j 9 9 . d R . 4 . 0 C G C . R B 9 R 4

The mix of uppercase, lowercase and digits suggests

that we're meant to extract imgur images from this somehow

but whether or not that's right, it isn't clear to me how to proceed at this point. The grid (before translation)

contains at least these words, including my interpolations: DANGEROUS, VULNERABLE, FEAR, KILL, SIN, FALL, ABUSE. But also these, which don't share their threatening feel: ROUND, USE, ANY, DUN, FAN, GIN, HOME, TREASURE. The last of those is (even though it uses two interpolations) probably deliberate. Dunno about the others.