Solution to Whodunit
This puzzle involves constructing words that can also be parsed as <noun> <letter> <verbs/verbed>. The sentence structure and title hint at this reading: where the single letter is the "culprit" that did something to a "victim". The first two columns are the nouns and verbs, respectively, while the third is the final word formed.
We note that the noun and verb clues are sorted alphabetically, while the full word clues do not appear to be in a particular order, suggesting that the order of the third column is the one we use. Solving the clues and matching, we get:
| Left clue | Right clue | Full clue | Left answer | Letter | Right answer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firefly captain | silences | dogs | mal | A | mutes |
| temporary, quick fix | looked at | overused | hack | N | eyed |
| feline | murders | mountains | cat | S | kills |
| undergarment | headed | fought | bra | W | led |
| primary color | levied a fee upon | transformed | red | E | fined |
| 70s music genre | performs the steps to | strife | disco | R | dances |
| advantage of something | collides with | software | pro | G | rams |
| marijuana | touches with a part of a foot | tubers | pot | A | toes |
| fiends | limits the amount of | protests | demons | T | rations |
| very high mountain | aids in wrongdoing | letters | alp | H | abets |
| Franklin or Kenobi, e.g. | decomposes into primes | supporters | ben | E | factors |
| welcoming doorstep item | freezes | arrays | mat | R | ices |
| person of age | evaluated with some number of stars | tainted | adult | E | rated |
| fog | consumes | abuses | mist | R | eats |
| mathematical constant | crowns | leftovers | pi | C | kings |
| Mordor inhabitant | verifies the age of | flowers | orc | H | ids |
| sun | referenced in an academic work | requested | sol | I | cited |
| circuit safety device | makes older | bodies | fuse | L | ages |
| male | consumed | authority | man | D | ate |
| frisbee shape | modified | smeared | disc | R | edited |
| loud noise | made to produce a resonant sound | projectile | boom | E | rang |
| sea urchin | cared for | accidental | uni | N | tended |
The "culprit" letters spell out ANSWER GATHERER CHILDREN, giving us our final answer of GATHERER CHILDREN.