Crossing Pairs #1

[Edit--Just inserting a note in case you came to this blog more recently and are interested in Crossing Pairs but feel like you should do them in order.  You don't have to!  These first two are among the first puzzles I posted and are REALLY ROUGH.  I'd recommend starting the series at 3 or 4 if you feel like going in order, but going backwards is just fine.  I kind of intend to reclue the first two (maybe 3?) someday to get the collection in better shape than it is.  But that day isn't today.  --6/1/23]

This is the first of my Crossing Pairs puzzles--three exist already as of now and at least a fourth will be made.  There are some aspects of this one that will seem unnecessary--hopefully those will make more sense if you keep doing the series.

There are two consecutive unchecked squares in this at the bottom that I thought a lot about when I made this a few weeks ago.  It's fixable, by cutting that 11-letter word into a 5 and a 6 (and changing some stuff around to make words out of them).  But I think the 'good' of a nice 11-letter word is better than the 'bad' of consecutive unchecked squares?  I'm not sure if I would still make the same decision today.

I never really had a hobby that felt creative in the way setting crosswords does, and it still feels a little overwhelming thinking about how individual decisions like this add up to a philosophy.  It's really exciting!

I hope you enjoy solving.

Thanks to oddthority, dadgumituh, MP, Liari, go-away-im-sleeping, Jack H Keynes for test-solving. 

(Fullscreen solve)

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