The hidden word reads vertically down the middle of the puzzle (shown in bold above):
SAURON

The omitted letters (in parentheses in the list below) spell
ONE RING

Sauron is the Lord of the Rings, in the classic fantasy novels of J.R.R. Tolkien. It was on Mount Doom that Lord Sauron forged the one ring that would rule the other 19 rings of the elves, dwarves, and mortals.

September Puzzle Solvers
(The first ten are listed in the order their solutions were received, the others alphabetically)

1. Stan Francuz - Biggenden, Qld, Australia
2. Rick Kasten - Alexandria, VA
3. Catherine Childs - Pompano Beach, FL
4. Arnold Reich - Bronxville, NY
5. Judy Adamski - Jenison, MI
6. Charles Rohrmann, Jr. - Scarsdale, NY
7. Al Sanders - Fort Collins, CO
8. Doug Kouril - Arlington, VA
9. Robert Brown - Albuquerque, NM
10. Stephen Throop - Grover, NC

William Alcorn - Cleveland Heights, OH
Al Backiel - Ridgewood, NJ
Eric Chipman - Boulder, CO
Jim Christenson - Port Townsend, WA
Henry Cook - Chicago, IL
Yossi Fendel - Berkeley, CA
Warren Fraser - Marmora, Ontario, Canada
Lew Gee - Poway, CA
Richard Harrison - Portland, OR
Wayne Jones - Worcester, NY
Eliot Kieval - New York, NY
Mike Lessie - Douglassville, PA
Bob Mattson - Smithtown, NY
Jackie Miller - Everett, MA
Daniel J. Milton - Vienna, VA
Mary Lyndal Nyberg - Manhattan, KS
Charlie Pritzlaff - Silver Spring, MD
Ned Robert - Los Gatos, CA
Joe Rogers - Old Greenwich, CT
Mordy Rosen - Berkeley, CA
Sheila Scott - Jamaica Plain, MA
Wayne Scott - Jamaica Plain, MA
Callie and Bob Smith - Massena, NY
Margaret Webster - Medford, MA
Tom Wilson - South Williamsport, PA
Jay Winter - Farmington Hills, MI