  A long-standing problem of fine-structure anomalies in muonic atoms is
revisited by considering the $\Delta 2p$ splitting in muonic
$^{90}\mathrm{Zr}$, $^{120}\mathrm{Sn}$ and $^{208}\mathrm{Pb}$ and the $\Delta
3p$ splitting in muonic $^{208}\mathrm{Pb}$. State-of-the-art techniques from
both nuclear and atomic physics are brought together in order to perform the
most comprehensive to date calculations of nuclear-polarization energy shifts.
Barring the more subtle case of muonic $^{208}\mathrm{Pb}$, the results suggest
that the dominant calculation uncertainty is much smaller than the persisting
discrepancies between theory and experiment. We conclude that the resolution to
the anomalies is likely to be rooted in refined QED corrections or even some
other previously unaccounted-for contributions.
