The lines and plus signs hint that the clues lead to words that can be decomposed into a shorter word plus an additional letter. After some inspection it becomes apparent that all of them contain a word from Extended Password, which is further confirmed by the mention of “extend” in the flavour text (though the reference to Mock Army is a red herring).
| Clue | Answer | Ext.P. | Extra |
|---|---|---|---|
| People living in a nunnery? | SISTERS | RESIST | S |
| His swordplay was superb, with many thrusts and ________. | PARRIES | SIERRA | P |
| To where/to what place? (archaic) | WHITHER | WITHER | H |
| A Hanukkah spinning top | DREIDEL | RIDDLE | E |
| Sium sisarum | SKIRRET | STRIKE | R |
| French commune featuring the Chapel of Moussy | CORNIER | CORNER | I |
| Customers | CLIENTS | ENLIST | C |
This spells out the word SPHERIC. Below the clues, another set of lines with a plus sign indicates that this word should again be decomposed by removing one letter. The only such answer that is a word in Extended Passwords is
CIPHER