The theme for this puzzle was inspired by a recent NYT grid (I suspect a few of you will catch the link). Initially, I only included four theme answers, but the build was too easy so I bumped it up to eight, which ramped up the challenge significantly! I was able to complete the grid, but not without having to use a few words I'm not especially proud of... but it's done and published!
I'll continue cleaning up the puzzle, so if any of you solvers have suggestions or feedback, please let me know!