Hello, solvers, and thanks for giving my puzzle a shot - I hope you enjoyed it and didn't trip over too many stumbling blocks. It seems to be my obsession at the moment to fit long words into short grids, so I hope you'll forgive this rather wayward tendency. As always, your comments are much appreciated, and you can find more of this sort of thing at https://crosshare.org/tuber.
The wash-up follows:
ACROSS.
1A, 4A. "actor's trailer" = STAR'S TRUCK.6A. "Expert" = PRO surrounded by AN given literally.7A. Substitution of literal IS for "the Spanish" = EL in "beater" = WHISK.
DOWN. 1D. Reversal of "growths" = WARTS.2D. "thus begins" = T + "epitaph" = RIP.3D. Hidden in maSKUNKnown.5D. "balls" = OO surrounded by "edges" of "controversial" = CL.
1A/4A: I think this has a shared root, even with the shift from STAR to STAR'S. I like the surface, though. 6A: Nice! 7A: I did the substitution the wrong way; that's my fault, I think. 1D: This one got a chuckle. 2D: My favorite of this set; very fun. 3D: Good. 5D: I'm not sure [Edgy] works to mean "edges of" and the [for] seems extraneous in the sense that [covering for] seems like a substitution (as in a teacher). Again, though, surface made me titter, and that's a win!
6A: Nice!
7A: I did the substitution the wrong way; that's my fault, I think.
1D: This one got a chuckle.
2D: My favorite of this set; very fun.
3D: Good.
5D: I'm not sure [Edgy] works to mean "edges of" and the [for] seems extraneous in the sense that [covering for] seems like a substitution (as in a teacher). Again, though, surface made me titter, and that's a win!