Advice on a sharp zoom

Having just pulled the trigger on a K-3, I'm also evaluating my lens lineup.  I'm all set on primes, I don't need more.  I have the (SMC) DA21ltd, FA43ltd, D-FA100 Macro (non-WR).  My prime range is entirely covered.  I also have the (huge but excellent ) Sigma 10-20 f4-5.6 EX DC for going very wide.  Not a prime, but it covers the wide for those occasions when I need it.

Despite all that my most used lens has become the DA 18-135.  It's pretty much the only lens with such a versatile range that's also WR, and is pretty good across the range.  It's a compromise, but a willing one.

However, I've always been interested in adding a zoom that covers a useful range to just leave on the camera for most of the time.  I've always dreamed of one day getting a DA* for the superior optics, speed, and great WR, but it seems like Pentax has abandoned DA* and the most practical DA*, the 16-50, has had enough mixed reviews over the years, including the idea that it's soft until at least f8 and has some edge softness that it sounds like it's not that much better than the 18-135, optically (faster, but also much heavier and larger.)

So is there anything that optically replaces what the DA* was supposed to be? Is DA* still the best as far as "compromises" go, or are they just too big and heavy to compete with some of the newer optics out there on a pounds-to-performance scale (again, speed aside.)

The only lenses I know of in that range are the DA HD 16-85 WR.  It's slower than a *, but it's telling that Pentax's own gallery for the K3 has more pictures from the 16-85 than from the DA* 16-50.  On the other hand I can't imagine it being much better than the 18-135 considering the cost savings a "kit" lens usually provides versus a stand-alone lens made in smaller production runs.  The 2-40ltd intrigues me.  A compact "pancake zoom" that many have said is more stable than 16-45.  But the limited zoom range concerns me.  It really does little but replaces my DA21 and FA43 withing having to switch between them and doesn't expand my range.

WR is preferred, by far.  And I'm ultimately looking for something to get the most out of K3 (other than the primes, of course.)