Definition: "blooming"

This is an anagram - look for an indicator word that suggests mixing or rearranging letters

'continued' is the anagram indicator - rearrange the letters of 'EARLIEST' but only use some of them (7 letters total for the answer)

Answer: BLASTED | 'continued' indicates anagram - rearrange 7 letters from 'EARLIEST' to get BLASTED (meaning blooming as in 'blooming awful')