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 |