I only opened my e-mail from the Guardian editor this morning so I was unaware that the latest Genius was out.
As with AJT and others I found the puzzle disappointing and also frustrating for the reasons already given.
I arrived at -
Lure - Rule
Contains - Sanction
Eastern - Earnest
Altered - Alerted
Inside - Indies
Said - Dais
Top - Pot
Arriving at ELASTIC - DESPAIR