Each answer in this 6x6 crossword is 5 letters long because each row and column contains an "empty" square (use the rebus to mark these squares "XX"). Furthermore, the bottom row is a Wordle answer. After completing the crossword, use the shaded letters to solve it.
awesome, tricky, and extremely unique! though i believe 7A should have just the left "A" highlighted; otherwise, it will be interpreted that the wordle answer has two A's.