The sum of its parts

EDIT: I mentioned I might make a "cleaner" version of this puzzle. Well https://crosshare.org/crosswords/23ii8qZgoKXO3f7xKr6c/holism is done and it's a superior puzzle to this in nearly all ways. I suggest you attempt it first.

This one is .... different.

By the nature of the meta this was very hard to construct and the grid .... well, you see. Still it's a clever and unique idea that had to be done, although I am upset by the ugliness of the grid. I was about 1/3 of the way through construction when I thought of another why I can have the overall same meta (slightly less convoluted and slightly less clever) with a cleaner grid. However, Crosshare won't let you start a new puzzle until you have published (or abandoned) you current puzzle so I haven't done the other one yet. If this is too weird, in a few days I'll have a cleaner companion.

Advice: Figure out where the "essential areas of the meta" are first. It'll be utterly impossible to do this meta without them