Theme consistency placement

[chris.davison]

Hello,

If I balance the placement of a theme pun at both the start and the end of the entries, will it hurt my chances of acceptance to the NYT for a Sunday Theme?  I am okay to create two separate puzzles, one with starts and one with ends only, but I had always wondered this and forgot to ask Mr. Shortz and staff when I had a puzzle to submit.

Example with contrived and unbalanced lengths:

CatsMeow
SowsEar
ElephantsNeverForget

GoneToTheDogs
ForTheBirds
SaveTheWhales

Thanks in advance,
Chris Davison (former constructor trying to make a comeback)