Image source, obviously not even tangentially related to the theme
I honestly don't know how I managed to produce a puzzle this week, but here it is!! I don't often say this, but I'm proud of the fill on this one. There are some ehhh spots (looking at you, bottom center downs) but I covered the bases in terms of cultural references, from 2023 to *checks notes* 1777? Ok, maybe that one isn't so great...
Anyway, if you want a challenge today, this puzzle might be a fun diagramless solve! A diagramless version is included in the PDFs below.
PDF:
Answer key:
Online:
(posting a link instead of embedding so as not to spoil the grid for diagramless solvers)
How is it that I didn't properly take your invitation to do this diagramless as a *warning*?! Suffice to say that there were some ... moments during my solve. Thanks for the fun!