Note: This is another in my sequence of post-Mystery-Hunt cryptics, which started with "Still There," "Post-Game Predictions," "The Sequel," "Power Lines," "A Lesson in Cryptography," "Yet More Villainy," "Further Escapades," "Time X*X," "Honeymoon in Segas," "If At First You Succeed," "Another One From The Vault," "Next Winter: Wonderland," "DAB," "Some Extraction on the Side," "Another Campaign," "Mind The Sharp Bits!", "Through The Wood", "Newbie Toonie", "Tomezone", and "Museum Pieces"; this one was written before the 2025 hunt and refers to the 2024 hunt. "NI2" and "NI3," as is usual in the National Puzzlers' League, indicate the second and third editions (respectively) of Merriam-Webster's New International Dictionary.

After nearly a year, you're still stuck in Pluto's realm doing puzzles, thanks to a few other deities:

(A) One deity caused an overabundance of puzzles to be created. Reflecting this, in each Down "superclue" (the clues for one column's two or three Down entries, concatenated together in order), (i) the wordplay in each clue yields one extra letter, and (ii) one word in one clue is too long, and must be repaired before solving. Most (ii) words just have an extra letter at the beginning; in column order, these letters will give the divine imperative that led the creators of this hunt to create so much.

(B) Also, the judge who was supposed to let you out in the midst of the Hunt got distracted. For each clue whose (i) letter is added centrally, write the (i) letter above or below the entry's column depending on whether that clue has a (ii) word or not; the letters above will name the judge, and the letters below will say where, specifically, he is holding you. Also, each of these (ii) words has undergone the same specific transformation (instead of just adding a letter at the beginning); if the judge undoes this transformation, he will name the deity responsible for this distraction. As additional confirmation, a horizontal, palindromic, astronomical description of this deity can be found surrounding, but not including, one square in the completed grid.

(C) The distraction also involved three more deities possibly encountered during the Hunt, each affecting eight Across answers before entry:

1. One's entries will be broadcast, like her puzzle round. (One resulting entry is hyphenated, one French.)
2. The entries of one (who moved binary data around throughout the Hunt) will swap in pairs.
3. One's entries will be little ones, like the puzzles in her round. (One resulting entry is NI3.)

• For each 1 clue in clue order, if its answer (not entry) has n letters, cross out the n letters at the clue's start and read the one letter now at the clue's start; the result will describe 1's broadcasts. Repeat that process with 1, one, and start changed to 3, three, and end to describe 3 herself. Both descriptions will apply to the additional deity as well.
• Each swapped pair of 2 answers (listed in alphabetical order) will form a two-word phrase; these four phrases will sum to a six-digit number p₁q₁p₂q₂p₃q₃ identifying the additional deity.
• Finally, deities 1, 2, and 3 each must be put inside one of the remaining three Across clues (in order) before solving; afterwards, cross out deity z, the p_z letters before her, and the q_z letters after her, and note the two letters surrounding the crossed-out section. These six letters will name the additional deity.

(D) Finally, 45° counterclockwise from (B)'s palindrome (and using the square the palindrome surrounds) you will see these deities' milieu, and one more deity who has seen many one-year underworld sojourns. For each (i) letter added on the left or right (instead of centrally), find that letter in the left or right half of the palindrome (respectively), and note the letter below/above it in the 45°-rotated line; in entry-number order, these new letters will name two constant companions of (B) (under her current or earlier name) who might help you escape.

ACROSS CLUES

DOWN SUPERCLUES

1, 23, 41. A Dutch arachnid-let in MBA's study or outside of pantropic, deuterium-free pond stretches out west, emulating keen, cold-eyed spider (5)(4, abbr.)(4)

2, 28. Axton, who played one father in Gremlins, every mother in Ohio Syntax Club, and the lead in Ben Hur, turned red (4)(4)

3, 20, 37. A level-climbing prophet will do time, imprisoned by ronin that doesn't have rod along, at period in the future (4)(2 2)(5)

4, 29. Grease covers half of each thing Ravel used when paying Frau Mahler et al., unfortunately (4)(4)

16, 34. Valley that produces wine 'n' bread crusts from alga, mole, kale or lager, and tobacco juice (4)(6)

5, 24, 43. Ford and barely banal Forrest Gump officer Sy mourning upsetting times when "E" is a new Ewing's palindromic name (2 3, abbr.)(4)(4)

13, 35. With Rodin-style carvers, patch (alternatively) √ of stone binding Queen Esther's dress (4)(4, abbr.)

6, 21, 39. Egoless Tolkien trimmed some weed walls in Xanth and devoured stats symbol sister (beginning in MDCCLXXVI) and you remove pigment from (4)(1-3)(5, [NI2])

7, 31. Godard's Helvetian symbol for "asymmetrical" I employ recalled singer Lotte's Nameless Meadows (6)(4)

17, 44. Businessperson that is — in '90, after debut of paternal senior — put into mostly full roll (4)(4)

8, 26, 45. Señora who has delivered 75% of Yuletide dreams, bisected portion of treat that's turned, and made true port wind up inside of Kleo's serpent (5)(4)(4)

18, 46. Future attorney and quondam "Most Evaluable Player" Shaquille slightly elevating liquid oxygen actress Ward hoisted too (3-1)(4)

9, 22, 40. Fruit drinks pathologists drained after Spot's quintet of vulgar SF-style barks resembling Patrick Stewart's pronunciation of Charles-Xavier-like speeches superficially (4)(4)(1-4 [NI3])