"The wizard represented himself as the fountainhead of all knowledge.  He knew the secrets of the past, present, and future."  From Magician's Magic by Paul Curry, 1965.

Note that the 9-letter grid forms a rather difficult Boggle-style game board.  How many words can you find?  Here are some clues:

1. To obtain by deceit (4 letters).

2. An alcohol molecule containing two hydroxyl groups (4 letters).

3. A temporary release (4 letters).

4. Having a strong, disagreeable smell (4 letters).

5. (Archaic) having obeyed; from Arabic, a servant or worshipper (4 letters).

6. Put to death (obsolete form) (4 letters).

7. About 2.2 pounds (4 letters).

8. To open a locked door by sliding a thin piece of plastic between the door edge and frame to force open a spring lock (4 letters).

Answers [highlight to view]: 1. bilk; 2. diol; 3. bail; 4. olid; 5. abid; 6. kild; 7. kilo; 8. loid.  Three-letter words: aid, ail, bad, bid, bio, cid, dab, dib, ilk, jib, jol, kid, lib, lid, oik, oil, old.