"Round of Drinks," by Alan Olschwang

Editor's Comments

I always appreciate a theme with a visual element.  I would have been happy with just PORTFOLIO, BEERSHEBA, LET'S BEGIN, and ST AMBROSE as the "round of drinks," though Alan went above and beyond by also incorporating ALEUTIAN and NAMESAKE.  Those two are especially impressive since they both disguise their drinks well and interlock with other theme entries!  Any time you have interlocking theme entries, the fill tends to get strained in the areas around them.  Alan kept things extra-smooth, though, so you'd never guess that the fill was such a challenge.