Is it possible to have an equation in align which crosses alignment boundaries?
You can set the "longer explanation" inside a zero-width box and let it extend across the align
alignment points:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\setlength{\textwidth}{30em}
\begin{document}
\begin{align}
& x = a + b + c + d + e + f + g + h + i + j, & \text{some condition} \\
& y = a + b + c + d + e + f + g + h + i + j, & \\
& & \makebox[0pt][r]{some much longer condition} \nonumber
\end{align}
\end{document}
Vertical alignment of the tag (2)
is possible:
\begin{align}
& x = a + b + c + d + e + f + g + h + i + j, & \text{some condition} \\
& \begin{array}{@{} l}
y = a + b + c + d + e + f + g + h + i + j, \\
\mathstrut
\end{array} &
\begin{array}{ r @{}}
\mathstrut \\
\makebox[0pt][r]{some much longer condition}
\end{array}
\end{align}