Labyrinth (Solution)

by Charles Steinhardt and Robin Baur

The acrosses and downs cannot be filled into a 10 by 10 grid, but can be filled into a 21 by 21 grid with many black squares, if one square is allowed to contain "START" and another "END".



Taking every other letter in the 21 by 21 grid, we get a complete 10 by 10 grid (like the blank one given), where boundaries sometimes have a letter at them.

We interpret this as a maze, and find the unique solution from START to END.  

The letters along the solution path spell out HONORVERSE STAR KINGDOMS OR PERSIAN MARTYAXWARS, cluing MANTICORES.

Answers to the clues:

Across

Overactor; Frasier role; lip hair, briefly

ham

daphne

stache

Northwestern state; louder; venomous Indian snake

idaho

noisier

krait

Home canners; heron, in Munich

preservers

reiher

Cautious and deliberate; adventurous acts

careful

derringdo

Foundation author; make unwanted comments; type of salt

asimov

kibitz

epsom

Pallid; prized; Roman galley

wan

treasured

trireme

Declare unfit for habitation; thinking machines (abbr.); discard

condemn

ais

toss

Former, as a girlfriend; collection of Persian quatrains; Ken's gal

ex

ruba'iyat

barbie

Provide with weapons; whirlpool; sorcerer

arm

vortex

wizard

Mule's daddies; Welsh dish

donkeys

rarebit

Down

Religious school; Amend strip

madrasa

foxtrot

Village People tune; part of a musical note; marital invalidation

ymca

stem

annulment

Adhere to a surface; Norwegian attractions; angled edge

adsorb

fjords

bevel

Celebration before Lent; osso buco component; Joan of Arc, for example

carnival

veal

martyr

Pollux or Betelgeuse; part of an oarlock; Menlo Park denizen; eight bits; transmit

star

thole

edison

byte

send

Owner of a Lonely Heart band; items for a book collector; machines found at a car wash

yes

rariora

waxers

Theater aide; snitch; Argentine repression

usher

rat

dirty war

Stirring up, as a fire; inferior substitutes

stoking

ersatzes

Pumbaa, for example; Chef's garment; certain spiritual leader

warthog

apron

rabbi

Societies simpler than a state; sub-par result?

chiefdoms

birdie