Ozymandias

Look on my puzzle, ye mighty, and despair!

Across
1. 3. 4. 6. 7. 8. ????
11. 12. 14. 16. 17.
Down
1. 2. 5. 6. 9. 10. 13. 15.

Editor’s note: Everyone seems to be struggling with this puzzle. Perhaps the key insights, while clever, are simply too challenging for our audience. To compensate for this, we have released a partial solution.