Cozcamiahuatl's Shrine

Jaci Conrad

SOLUTION:

The given clues form a wordchain with missing words (in caps):

Listindex
Rejoiceexult
 ULTIMA
Adult insectimago
Prodgoad
Small town in West Baton Rouge countyaddis
Dauntdismay
 MAYOR
Foundlingorphan
Apparitionphantom
Spicy Thai pastetomyum
 YUMAN
What not to do when called by a pantheranther
Beverage containerthermos
Book person?moslem
Propositionlemma
 MANIC
Battery elementnickel
Temperature scalekelvin

The missing words also form a wordchain with another missing word:

ultima
mayor
YORYU
yuman
manic

so the answer is YORYU.

Clues to the wordchain: Cozcamiahuatl's name means "cornflower necklace"; "Randall" and "dallying" in the introtext; "connected"; "absence".

Answer: YORYU