Merger Mania
Dick Shlakman and Will Nediger join forces in a friendly takeover.
Bob Dylan rocked out on his electric axe in Toulouse, 1981, as his bass player glared at him.Credit.Daniel Janin/Agence France-Presse Getty Images
April 10, 2021, 6:00 p.m. ET
SUNDAY PUZZLE This is a really neat, busy grid by a couple of wags: Will Nediger, a familiar name, constructs professionally, and Dick Shlakman, who had a couple of puzzles some years ago (including a Sunday), is a retired lawyer and corporate executive. Mr. Shlakman is somewhat the senior of the two (by five decades, give or take) and came up with the business-y theme, probably from all those years of watching every company in our frenetic capitalist society try to beat or join every other company. Perhaps, then, Mr. Nediger is to blame for the cascade of interesting fill, some of which I incorrectly attributed to the theme. All in all, a good challenge that deals with the acquisitive and rewards the inquisitive (as always,