Solution: The Jeweled Fowl

SOLUTION:

This is a Scrabble puzzle.
Flavor text clues first word ruby with last line (stone with red glint).
Answer all clues; attached numbers are scoring values.
Constraints provided by limited number of Scrabble letters. Figure out which words must intersect, using letter constraints and scores. Place all tiles on board.
All rules followed except slang, and proper nouns observed.
Once all words are placed on the board, toss out all answers which refer to living things, as clued by the organic matter in the introtext.
Read off intersections, left to right and top to bottom, to get cluephrase HER_SEPT_BROOCH (underscores are blanks).
Answer is MARIA ALEXANDROVNA, who owned a famous sapphire brooch.

Clue	Answer	Classification
Naturally, it was the last found (abbr.) (3)	RE	Mineral
Where a jeweler keeps his lens (4)	LOUPE	Mineral
Bloodstone sign (5)	ARIES	Mineral
Shortest of the 4 Cs (5)	CUT	Mineral
Slang for fake (6)	PASTE	Mineral
Vegetable high in protein (7)	SOY	Vegetable/Animal
Smiling garden fellow (8)	GNOME	Vegetable/Animal
She's a heavyweight at 26.486 grams (9)	SARAH	Mineral
A well-respected vine (9)	IVY	Vegetable/Animal
A female hare (12)	DOE	Vegetable/Animal
Ray Charles saw reflections with him (14)	PEWTER	Mineral
Peten opercularis (15)	QUIN	Vegetable/Animal
Matz's Gem (16)	RUBY	Mineral
The Great Mogul in a former life (16)	ORLOV	Mineral
Orange drupe distantly related to poison ivy (16)	MANGO	Vegetable/Animal
Opal in Canberra (18)	POTCH	Mineral
A haddock cured with the smoke of peat earth (18)	FINNAN	Vegetable/Animal
A mating of copper and silver (19)	HALFBREED	Mineral
Olivine elite (22)	PERIDOT	Mineral
A Malaysian deer or a Toyota passenger car in Brunei (24)	KIJANG	Vegetable/Animal
You would find one on planet Zi (28)	ZOID	Vegetable/Animal
Despite its name, this type of opal is whole	HALF	Mineral
Might be found in the basement of W-7?	BAKERITE	Mineral
#19 in Maui (68)	HAWAIITE	Mineral
NC-2000 (88)	EXCELSIOR	Mineral

Here is a picture of the completed board.