Re: SystemD ? Was THAT What Buggered My Mint AND Laptop ?
From what you say the file /etc/sudoers got deleted (or corrupted). It may have been some (badly effed up) update.
Btw. you could have booted from a rescue image (CD or USB stick) and fixed it yourself. Easy when you have a proper backup, not-quite-so-easy when you have to 'manually' recreate that file.