Tangled Web

by Dave Shukan

ANSWER: VOLE

 

The 12 clues lead to the following double square:

ADMITS
DEADEN
SERENE
OPIATE
RENTER
BREEDS

The double-sided 6x1 strips provided can be woven in just one way to form this double square, occasionally skipping a pure over-under alternation, as suggested in the flavortext diagram. When this is done, the reverse side displays AN ANAGRAM OF LOVE THAT IS ALSO A RODENT TYPE, cluing the answer VOLE.